Harry Potter: A Certain Ancient Rune Professor of Hogwarts

by Little Merger

Three years after graduating from Hogwarts, Felix enters the school again. What will happen when Muggle wisdom, innovation and magic come together?

13. 385

Harry Potter: A Certain Ancient Rune Professor of Hogwarts #Chapter 385: Advantages - Read Harry Potter: A Certain Ancient Rune Professor of Hogwarts Chapter 385: Advantages Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

At night, the ancient rune office.

A golden mist coalesced into illusory humanoid images, floating one by one in front of Felix. Niffler Valen stood on the small square table, reaching for the golden shadows.

"Igor Karkaroff, former Death Eater, one of the betrayers of Voldemort. Suspicious: sneaked into the entrance hall and had come into contact with the Goblet of Fire alone - minor suspicion;"

"Ludo Bagman, once accused of helping the Death Eaters to pass information. Suspicious: showed a strong welcome when Harry became a champion - suspicious, but had no time to commit the crime;"

For a longer period of time, the Goblet of Fire was in Dumbledore's hands, and if something went wrong, it would not have gone undetected.

"Barty Crouch Sr, was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, a tough guy, transferred from his core position due to the implication of his son being a Death Eater. Suspicious: wife and son died one after another because of this incident, his future was destroyed, do not rule out the possibility of polarization; plus physical weakness, clashed with Fudge during the World Cup - suspicious, but no time to commit the crime, the same as Bagman;"

"Madame Olympe Maxime is suspected because of being a half-blood giant, in the war years, the giant clan was a hardcore supporter of Voldemort. Suspicious: not found yet."

"Uagadou, Ilvermorny, the students of both schools' information is incomplete, can not be judged ..."

Felix pondered silently until finally when a figure with fake eyes and a face full of scars appeared, he waved his hand and let the golden mist dissipate.

"No matter who did it, one, or a group, their goal is Harry, they want Harry to die. But it could be done without causing this much trouble, perhaps there is a deeper intent ..."

"And is Voldemort already resurrected now or not? Is he trying to make Harry as his first sacrifice after the resurrection? A stage to announce his return? If resurrected but does not show up, it is only possible that he is secretly seeking his old troops, and with Dumbledore's intelligence network, he should be able to find the clues ... Well, I'm not doing that bad, it's time to write a letter to a few old friends."

He glanced at an improved version of the Marauder's Map, as his gaze lingered over Moody's name briefly, before wrapping it up. "Gotta make time to include the four magic school quarters."

He looked back and saw Niffler Valen staring at him, so he smiled as he tapped Valen's long beak twice.

Before he went to sleep, he thought carefully, as he seemed to have forgotten something ... "Oh, yes," he waved his hand, making the fireplace burn with turquoise flames, and then Felix muttered in a small voice: "Don't blame me for blocking your fireplace, disturbing me half a dozen times a day, no one can stand it."

The next morning.

Harry opened his eyes in a daze and got startled at the sight of Ron - he seemed to have been up all night, and the shadows under his eyes were simply deeper than Mr. Crouch.

" That cat is looking for you." Ron said in a hoarse voice, "It kept scratching the door and I let it in."

Harry lifted the curtain of the four-poster bed and saw Crookshanks crouched on the cupboard beside the bed, the seemingly squashed cat face staring unblinkingly at him, its tail sweeping aimlessly and scattering a stack of Rune cards.

"Something wrong, Crookshanks?" He asked.

On the cupboard, the ginger cat stretched out one of its claws, pointed outside, and let out an oozing howl as Seamus, who was sleeping on one side, rolled over.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, Harry asked tentatively: "You want me to go outside? Is ... Hermione looking for me about something?"

The yellow eyes of Crookshanks showed an approving look.

So Harry changed out of his pyjamas, in between dressing, he took the time to look out the window, it is dark outside, probably it is only four or five o'clock, he could not help but yawn.

Yesterday he went to bed very late, and today he woke up early, he did not even sleep for a few hours.

In the common room, Harry and Ron saw Hermione waiting quietly out there, she covered herself tightly, head wrapped in a scarf like the one worn by Beauxbatons students.

Harry once saw her in a similar outfit, it was because Hermione had mistakenly taken a polyjuice potion with cat hair. In between recovery periods, together with partial human transfiguration: a magical spell was said to be used by vampires to hide their fangs, to cover up the facial hair on her face.

"Hermione, what's going on ... and Ron, I've been meaning to ask for a while now, did you all stay up all night?"

"I couldn't sleep - oops, don't ask for now, Sirius is here." Hermione said urgently, her vocalization sounded strange, like she had a piece of candy in her mouth.

"Who?" Harry came to his senses with a start.

Outside the door of the Gryffindor common room, Sirius is having a conversation with the Fat Lady portrait. The Fat Lady talking enthusiastically, she recited the lines in a deliberately subdued theatrical singing voice -

"The little boy with a bruised nose - who returns by night - the hard work in the dark - ah ~ at last, he becomes a fearless champion! --"

Sirius frowned, feeling more and more irritated by every moment. What the hell is this singing!

"Can't you just let me in?" He asked for the fifth time without giving up.

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"Oh, no," the fat lady paused and said solemnly, "I have a professional code of conduct, you are neither a student nor a professor, and you are not allowed to enter even with a password ..."

The door opened from the inside, her portrait turned to the side, Harry, Ron, and Hermione came out.

"Sirius, what are you doing here? Hermione told me, but I didn't quite believe her!" Harry asked in surprise.

" Otherwise, how could I sit still when something so big happened, you should have informed me first, this is when the two-way mirror comes in handy." Sirius said without a smile, he looked at the two behind Harry, "So, the three-person team has been officially recognized? Have you figured out what to name your group yet?"

Ron glanced at him and didn't say anything.

Harry glared at his blabbermouth godfather, and Sirius immediately raised his hands in surrender, "Okay, no offence - you guys should know what I'm feeling right now."

"Did Professor Hap inform you of this, Mr. Black?" Hermione asked pointedly, still speaking in that strange tone, and Harry gave her an odd look.

"Call me Sirius - yeah, the books in the old mansion more or less helped." Sirius said bitterly as he wrapped his arms around Harry, "Let's find an empty classroom and have a nice chat, and you guys come over here, anyway, we're on the same rope now ..."

"I hate that." Harry muttered.

Sirius grinned and reached out as he messily rubbed Harry's hair.

They sought out an empty classroom and each went over what they knew, and Harry and the others learned more useful information, such as that Karkaroff had been caught by Moody back when he was a Death Eater, but he had escaped punishment from the Ministry of Magic by giving up a list of Death Eaters, and a dozen years later, transformed and became Headmaster of Durmstrang.

"We finally know why Karkaroff is so afraid and hates Professor Moody." Harry said, looking at Ron, who responded absent-mindedly, as they had discussed this topic before.

When Harry mentioned that the first task would have something to do with Dragons, Sirius stood up in a flash and walked back and forth in the empty classroom.

"How could they possibly let you deal with something like that!" He yelled.

Harry had to admit that he hadn't seriously considered how to deal with a dragon other than at the time during the light show when he and Sirius had had a conversation when they saw the Dragon magic lamp. He had been more worried about the possibility of Hogwarts not getting the trophy and the potential cold shoulder they might get last night but on the contrary, he hadn't thought about how he is supposed to fight for his small life amidst the claws and flames of a dragon in front of a large crowd.

"Maybe more than one." Sirius said, "Don't forget, you are competing as a group, the difficulty must be higher than in previous years - of course, I'm not talking about your level of difficulty, but the level of those who were once champions."

Harry noticed that Ron began to shake rhythmically again. He gathered his courage and said, "We're not that far behind, Hermione defeated a student of Ilvermorny - the one called Victor, he was the first champion to be selected, normally, the more qualified you are the more you will be selected first, right?"

Sirius looked over at Hermione, who had wrapped her head up so that her expression was not visible.

"I, uh, I ..." she stammered through her veil.

"It looks like none of you are ready for this in your hearts." Sirius pointed out the right point.

Harry opened his mouth and realized helplessly that what his godfather had said was right, none of them were prepared. He couldn't help but think about the other champions - like Cedric - would they also have been too worried to sleep? Or would they be thrilled to hear the news about the Dragon?

To make his mind more positive, he asked, "How are we supposed to defeat a dragon?"

"Defeat a dragon?" Sirius repeated.

"That's right ... we talked about it last time, didn't we? At the Quidditch World Cup light show," Harry said in a lighter tone, "you said it was possible to use some vision obscuration spell, brilliant idea, maybe we can use Conjunctivitis Curse, but we had to aim right ..."

Sirius glared and said, "You don't sound like you're dealing with a dangerous 5X class creature that can burn you to ashes in one breath, but rather a Niffler or something, in your mind, does defeat result in simply losing your pocket money?"

"Burned to ashes?" Ron said with a shudder.

"Yes, the Fire that Dragon spews out is not ordinary fire, shield charm may not be able to protect you against it, and simply with a tail whip, you will be smashed into mush even with a magic shield ... If there is no good way, your wands are no better than toothpicks."

...

At the table in the great hall, Sirius joined Harry and the rest for breakfast, they all had little appetite, and in addition to the problem of having to think about dragons, they also had to face the other people's strange looks and gestures.

"Ignore them, they will only say some sour words." Sirius said: "If you really can not swallow this, I suggest you to find the most unpleasant one and beat them up."

Hermione glared at him, and when she finally took off her hood during the meal, they could see that she had an extra row of blisters on her mouth.

"I thought you were the calmest of the three, I didn't think ..." Sirius said as he looked at her.

"It doesn't matter if you're calm or not, I'm just worried ... ouch!" Hermione covered her mouth, and after that time, she no longer dared to speak out loud.

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"You better go to the hospital wing." Harry said.

Hermione grunted twice.

...

"There's nothing to worry about." Felix said, standing in front of the six Hogwarts champions.

That evening, he gathered the six in classroom seven for targeted instruction.

"Since you're all bound together, it's certainly not for the purpose of losing, and when you think about it, you have quite a few advantages."

"Advantage?"

Felix waved his wand, and the silvery-white smoke behind him gathered towards them, quickly becoming invisible. They had stayed in the seventh classroom these days and were not unfamiliar with the change at hand.

They waited quietly, and after a few moments, the fog cleared before them, and they found themselves standing on a hillside, with soft brown dirt beneath their feet. The fog further away had not yet cleared, but they could vaguely see the emerald green peaks and black rock walls, as they found themselves in the midst of the mountains.

A dark shadow swept low over their heads and flew into the depths of the fog.

"Where is this place?"

Collins Foley asked, pursing her lips. The one thing that had been recognized by them, the students who had participated in the selection, is that most of the scenes are close enough to reality that they are traceable, except for Professor Hap's inexplicably ugly creatures.

She knelt down and plunged her hand into the loose dirt, grabbing a handful of blades of grass along with it, a feeling that seemed very real.

"Romanian Dragon Sanctuary." Felix said softly, "Thanks to Mr. Bagman, for inadvertently leaking the information, which has given me no worries in this process. I hope he won't be reprimanded by his superiors when he returns."

Hermione is the first to ask: "So the task we will challenge, is all those dragons from the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary?"

"That's right," Felix said, "I've been at the sanctuary for a couple of days, and I know a bit about the various species of dragons there ... This is your first advantage."

The six men shuddered for a moment, then Harry looked up and around, and peered up at a huge dragon passing through the sky.

"I think I hear the sound of human voices?" Cedric said hesitantly.

"Let's go down and take a look." Felix smiled as they walked down the hill to see a group of people fighting off a wounded Romanian longhorn dragon, half of its wings broken and bloody, but they still remained very cautious, the dark green scales on its neck expanding outward as if a small green shield had been inserted, its long golden horns always aimed at the person is considered the most threatening.

"Watch out, it's going to breathe fire - Charlie, use the stunning spell!" A wizard shouted.

Ron's eyes suddenly widened, and he pointed at one and shouted, "That's Charlie, my brother! He's in Romania! Oh my God!" He watched as Charlie led the charge and seven or eight men chanted a stunning spell together, and after a series of dense, dazzling red lights, the towering body of the dragon slammed heavily into the ground.

They felt the ground beneath their feet shuddered a bit as they gulped in unison.

Felix said from the side: "You can come closer to have a look." As he spoke, the time in the area seemed to freeze, and the dragon and dragon trainers did not move. They came closer and looked up close at the dragon, which was flipped over on the ground, and couldn't help but smack their lips, it was so big, at least six or seven times bigger than Cedric and Roger Davies, the tallest of them all.

The only thing that could be considered as consolation is the fact that this dragon's tail took up a third of its body length.

"Longhorn like to fend off their prey with their horns before roasting it, then drag it back to the nest with their claws, occasionally skewering it with their horns, or wrapping their tails around it." Felix described.

Harry looked at the two long golden horns on the top of the dragon's head, there is no doubt that they can impale all the prey in sight, he imagined the image of him hanging on it, and his face could not help but turn grim.

The six men followed Professor Hap forward with their hearts racing, unaware that they had come to a camp where most people were ignoring them. Felix introduced the scene from the side: "This is the scene I saw when I first came here, behind the camp is a fireproof-fenced enclosure, there are several dragons within it, I have played with all of them, one of them is particularly interesting ..."

"Professor Hap, are we just going to watch?" Cedric asked, "I mean, you are supposed to have us fight the dragons to gain experience, right?"

"That's the last step." Felix said, "First, it is necessary to dispel your fear of dragons, what is the best way to eliminate fear? You should all more or less have some idea how to do it ...

You need to understand them first, and Headmaster Dumbledore has found a teacher for you, his knowledge about dragons is much richer than mine."

As they spoke, the curtain of a tent in front of them lifted, and from inside came out two identical old men.

"Mr. Scamander, what do you think?" Felix asked courteously.

"Interesting, very interesting ... an eye-opener." The two old men said in unison, and they looked at each other with smiles on their faces.

--

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Felix was just about to open his mouth to introduce him, when a black shadow ran out of the tent, climbed along Newt's feet to his shoulder, and pointed at Felix with one hand crossed.

"Kiki! Kiki!" Niffler Valen shouted with excitement.

Even Harry and the others could see that the Niffler was tattling.

"Oh, Valen," Newt said soothingly, "it's good to learn more, you should really read the chapter I wrote about 'Niffler', and if you could read, I would be able to write to you every year ..."

Niffler Valen looked at Newt incredulously.

Newt locked eyes with her, "Are you still drinking your tonic? I brought one with me ..."

"Kee!"

Niffler let out a sad cry and flung from his shoulder into Felix's arms, hiding her head and causing the crowd to look on with amusement.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you, this is Mr. Newt Scamander, the world's most renowned Magizoologist." Felix said with a smile while holding the Niffler: "Mr. Scamander came over this morning, and Headmaster Dumbledore managed to persuade him to leave behind a precious memory that will live long with Hogwarts ... If someone writes this school history in the future, today will certainly deserve a special mention. "

Newt looked at Felix somewhat less comfortably, with the same expression on his face as his memory body.

Admiration for knowledge shone in Hermione's eyes, and she spoke impatiently, "Mr. Newt Scamander, we wrote to you - me, Harry, and Ron," she pointed to the two next to her, "about Hagrid's Buckbeak! It's still in the Forbidden Forest, living with its family!"

Newt looked at Hermione, then at the slightly shorter Harry and Ron, then at Cedric, Collins, and Roger Davies standing next to them - they were all staring at him with rapt attention, and he found that he had become the center of attention.

He said softly, "Is it, Miss Granger? Oh ... I just did what I thought was right ... and it makes me happy to do so."

They sat around a modest wooden square table in the camp, the ring of the wood on the surface of which could be clearly seen, and the memory body belonging to Newt whispered, "Excuse me, excuse me." And with that, it disappeared.

Newt himself blinked and looked fondly at the place where the memory body had disappeared. Turning back to find everyone looking at him in slight surprise, he cleared his throat, "Well, let's make it official ... Dumbledore told me to just leave a memory and leave things to him ... but I insisted on meeting with you all before I left, and I deemed it necessary."

"I have travelled throughout five continents. I have visited the nests of wild creatures, the caves of underground creatures, the nests of flying creatures, I have observed the strange habits of fantastic beasts in a hundred countries, I have felt their capabilities first hand, I have won their trust, and occasionally I have chased them all away with my travel kettle."

"Travelling... travelling kettle ...?" Roger Davies laughed and stroked his hair, "Did you encounter a group of migrating gnomes?"

The others wanted to laugh a little too.

But Newt answered Davies seriously, "No, a bunch of big-headed hairy creatures."

"What's that?" Harry quizzed.

"Well--"

Felix hooked his finger and a strange creature named Pogrebin appeared on the ground, about a foot tall and hairy, but with a big, bald, gray head.

"That's what it looks like." Newt said cheerfully, "See, compared to their bodies, their heads are surprisingly large, and they just need to crouch on the ground - yes, thanks - and you see, if you don't pay attention, you could mistake them for a big, shiny, round boulder, and quite a few travelling wizards just don't notice them, and lean on them to rest against them, like a pillow, only to wake up to find themselves even more exhausted and groggy ... or in a state of hysterical despair."

"This creature likes to chase people's shadows, if you come across it in the wild, you can make some noise to scare them, of course, a stunning spell will do, or simply kick it away with your feet ..."

Of the six Champions, only Cedric took the sixth-grade class on the care of magical creatures class seriously, stemming from the influence of his father - Mr. Amos Diggory, who now works for the Ministry of Magic's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He had seen pictures of the Pogrebin in class, but still felt a sense of novelty when listening to Newt's presentation. They noticed that the old man, who is somewhat less talkative, always talks a lot when he mentions magical creatures, moreover, he mentions a lot of interesting details without thinking about it.

Harry asked about the Thunderbird.

"It is a large flying magical creature that can sense danger and create storms while in flight." Newt said nostalgically, "Almost seventy years ago, 1926 to be exact, I rescued a thunderbird from a trafficker in Egypt, whom I called Frank, and something happened in the middle ... I can't talk about it, I signed a confidentiality agreement... ...but I met my wife during this incident ..."

A small smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Thunderbirds are a bit like enlarged eagles, with brilliant feathers of varying colours, but they generally have two long tail feathers trailing - they are distant relatives of the phoenix. The feathers on Frank's body are gold and white, which shine in the sunlight like floating clouds."

Harry pressed on, "But I've heard that, uh, thunderbird feathers can be used to make wands, are there any special characteristics to such wands? And what about the Horned Serpent?"

Byers had told him that the core of his wand is made of Thunderbird Feather, while Victor Graves' wand core is the part cut off from the Horned Serpent's horn.

Newt thought for a moment and said, "Thunderbirds are very sensitive to supernatural dangers, and wands made with thunderbird feathers are said to be not only powerful but also capable of fire curses pre-emptively when supernatural dangers are present..." Harry and the group looked deeply at each other for a few moments, as Newt continued. "But I think this description is a bit exaggerated, my wife Tina's wand is made of Thunderbird Feather, I am no stranger to this. She often complains to me that her wand is difficult to control."

"As for the Horned Serpent, I don't know much about the wand," Newt said matter-of-factly, "except that if there is sufficient understanding with the owner, the wand will give forewarning of danger, which is similar to the Horned Serpent's habits... ..."

Felix interjected: "I happen to know a little about the wand materials. One thing you need to know is that although the wand chooses the wizard, the wizard will also influence the wand under long-term companionship. Even the wand of the same material and wand core, in the hands of different wizards the effect that can be brought out is very different, so you should pay more attention to the person."

They nodded their heads.

For the next hour, they talked and enjoyed a leisurely evening, as if they had actually been led by Professor Hap to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary and happened to meet a knowledgeable elder.

"... I first saw a dragon in a secret project of the Ministry of Magic, in 1914, when I had just become an adult ... but I was only a junior employee of the Ministry of Magic... ...but the rest of the ministry staff had no way of dealing with that group of Ukrainian iron bellies, so they approached me. Then they had to abandon the project because the Ministry of Magic investigators found that these dragons only respond to me ..."

Harry and the others stared blankly at Newt as he explained -

"I have an innate talent for communicating and bonding with different creatures, and I'm very good at dealing with them ... Later, in 1918, August Wurm, publisher of Obscurus Books, commissioned me to write a magical creatures-related reference book. I gladly accepted the offer, while feeling deeply inadequate about my lack of experience, so I used my vacations to travel the world, accumulating material, and in 1925 I took a year-long trip to document the habitats of various magical creatures ..."

The young wizards present - including Felix - listened in silence. It is quite fascinating to hear a distinguished, if not legendary, wizard talk about the experiences of his youth, and to feel from his words the profound thoughts that cannot be put into writing.

"It was a wonderful time, carefree with an ever-present expectation of tomorrow. I wandered through the pitch-black forests of Africa to observe the precious image of a Runespoor emerging from its eggshell; waded through the bright Egyptian desert to follow the local legend of the Sphinx; wandered to the untouched Green Lake in Ireland where I draped the Kelpie with broad-leaved Balsam Star Grass; went over the twists and turns of the European mountains to witness the antics of a mountain trolls trying to tame a Graphorns... ..."

"It was not until 1927 that I completed the first edition of the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them, which was published and quickly became a bestseller."

"It's still a Hogwarts textbook!" Roger Davies said.

"My mom used it as a storybook to put me to sleep... but she didn't realize that was counterproductive." Cedric said, as a good-natured snicker was heard from the people around him.

...

"Kids." Newt prepared to end the day's conversation.

"I initially just wanted to make more people aware of the characteristics of the fantastic beasts that live in the same land as us, and also to improve its livelihood in the process. At the time, people were still prejudiced against these creatures and had been arguing for centuries over the question of "what is a beast and what is a human being." ... It was only through my travels that I began to think more and more deeply about the relationship between beasts and humans. If there is anything I desperately want to tell you from my experience, it's only through communication and understanding that we can eliminate the barriers."

Newt stood up and straightened his blue tunic.

"Mr. Scamander, have you really decided not to stay another day or two?" Felix asked reluctantly.

"I'm a little worried about Tina ... She's at home all alone, and it's not an easy task for her to take care of the magical creatures in the basement." Newt said, "I have left my entire knowledge about magical creatures, he will replace me and tell you all about the Dragons."

"I wish you all well in advance to pass the trial." He put on his hat and said to the six champions.

Harry and the others returned the salute in a messy manner, after which Hermione asked, "Mr. Scamander, how did you feel when you first learned you were about to face a dragon, did you have fear?"

"Fear?"

"The fear and agitation were just too much for me to sleep." Hermione said.

"My opinion doesn't necessarily suit you, but in my opinion, worrying means suffering one more time. And both me then, and you now are in a relatively safe environment when it comes to dealing with dragons, so we can be at ease a bit ... Hope this helps you, Miss Granger." Newt replied seriously.

When he prepared to leave, he saw his memory body hidden in the fog, behind a group of magical creatures. The past is still fresh in his mind, his eyes moistened, and then he gently breathed a sigh of relief, and left the group in classroom seven.

--

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When he exited classroom seven and stood in the hallway, he could see the bright moonlight outside the window, painting the sparse shrubs in the yard with a silvery glow.

"No need to see me off," Newt said as he turned around, "I've come by occasionally over the years to replace book manuscripts and still haven't forgotten the way out."

Niffler Valen stood on Felix's shoulder and waved along with the crowd.

At a fork in the path, Hogwarts Champions looked at Newt's back, a surge of admiration welled up in their hearts.

" Do you want to be like Mr. Scamander and work as a Magizoologist after graduation?" Felix smiled at them and asked in a very assured tone, "Or, at some point, want to become a naturalist?"

"Professor, how do you know?" Cedric asked in amazement. He had indeed just felt an urge to follow the footsteps of this old man and travel to every corner of the world to see the magical creatures with whom they shared their magic.

Felix laughed softly.

"This is the personal charisma of a great wizard, their own experience alone is enough to move and inspire countless people until they want to follow along ... but you have to think it through without making a hasty decision."

"Remember what I said? Hogwarts once had popular graduation travel customs, you can use that as a reference, walk more and see more, broaden your horizons. Some truths can only be yours if you have experienced them, and the truths spoken by others are no more precious than a Knut."

With thoughtful expressions, they parted from each other near the grand staircase.

Collins Foley and Cedric Diggory went down, with their common rooms on the lower floors, while Roger Davies and the trio went up until finally, only the trio remained as they headed towards the Gryffindor common room.

"I guess it's ten o'clock, so there shouldn't be many people in the common room, right?" Hermione asked with hope.

They seemed to have turned into rare creatures in the classroom during the day today, attracting everyone's attention. There was a lot of debate, and the attitude of the students of the other three houses was not that good, forming a vague atmosphere of antagonism toward Gryffindor, as if Gryffindor had taken away the honour of the other houses.

The Gryffindor students did defend them, but this kind of defense is equivalent to treating them differently, which is not what they want. The 'Harry Potter fan club' seemed to have added a new member, and Colin's brother Dennis Creevey seemed to be more influential than his brother, which was proved by the fact that he had brought in a group of new students from all four houses.

So the trio fled the scene.

After that they ran to the great hall in one breath, and finished their lunch early before anyone else showed up, then hurriedly made their way out.

In the afternoon care of magical creatures class, Hagrid had used the excuse that the Firetrail Snails had grown to three feet, so they need a certain amount of exercise, and asked the students to take them for a walk with each leading one. These Firetrail Snails are no longer fleshy, shellless, colorless bugs in the incubator, but rather they have grown a thick, grayish-white shell shaped like armour with incredible toughness.

If you just glanced at it occasionally, and also ignored the exaggerated size of the Firetrail Snails, you would think that these little wizards were walking a puppy on a leash. But the truth is, they were like helpless leaves in the wind, or a boat floating in a black lake in a rainstorm, dragged forward by the snails - every time their rear emits a cluster of sparks, the snails would suddenly advance six or seven feet, dragging the little wizards holding the rope behind them to the ground, and Lavender Brown was dragged backward and forwards, as she had screamed horribly while struggling to get up.

Hagrid took this opportunity to express his concern toward Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

The trio then thanked Hagrid for saving them from Malfoy's relentless taunting, as Ron's face turned into the colour of a baked Firetrail Snail in a fit of anger - Seamus at one point complained that if Hagrid continued to let them take care of the Firetrail Snail, he wouldn't be able to resist giving them the Bombarda.

This comment drew the young Gryffindor wizards into a lively discussion, as they all shared the same hatred. Dean introduced the fried scorpions and steamed crabs that he had eaten and talked about various types of cooking. In the process, even Harry joined in, arguing with them half-heartedly about whether fried Firetrail Snail would turn red when cooked or not.

"You guys don't look well, are you worried about the dragon?" Hagrid asked then.

Hearing that Ron's face cooled sharply, originally his face had turned red like a fried Firetrail Snail shell because of anger, now it turned into a pale ash colour, and at the same time, his lower belly trembled. After only a day, the word "dragon" has successfully replaced the word spider and become his new Fear Switch.

Seeing Ron's expression, Hagrid did not say anything else, only patted his shoulder, then Ron with a "poof" sat down on the ground.

"Oops - sorry! But I think you can, at least exercise your body a bit, so that you can run faster ..."

This is why they were so unenthusiastic towards Hagrid's concerns and advice, as it was totally counterproductive!

...

On the grand staircase, the trio slowed their pace as much as possible, the fireworks that the Weasley twins bought to celebrate last night had not been used up yet, and according to their habits, they certainly would make up for it today, or perhaps they are just behind the door at the moment.

As they walked up a staircase, two Ravenclaw girls came down and glanced at them with a strange look, before they turned their heads back and walked down.

Hermione let out a long sigh.

"Didn't Cedric and them say that they'd help us explain?" Harry asked in perplexity.

"It's only been a day, nothing won't change this soon." Hermione said, "Everyone else just wants to throw some tantrum."

"Let's just take a break here." Harry said with a low spirit, as he sat on the steps, he saw the portraits on both sides of the stairs were staring at them, he suddenly burst out with a fit of anger: " Wanna look? Come closer so you can see better!"

The old wizard in the portrait with the walrus moustache gave him a blank look and walked away, muttering something.

"Harry ..."

"I'm fine, I'm just a little uncomfortable," Harry said after taking two deep breaths, Sirius had comforted him only in the morning and his chat with Mr. Scamander in the evening had taken his mind off his troubles for a while, but now they were all coming back together.

"If Malfoy is going to give me a nickname like the fried Firetrail Snail or Scarhead, I'll give him a good beating." Harry clenched his fist and said.

Hermione's originally stony face bloomed with a smile, and then they all quieted down, each thinking about something.

"Harry, what do you think my family clock shows about me now? Will it point at 'mortal peril'?" Ron suddenly asked.

Harry hesitated for a moment, "I don't think so." He knew what Ron was talking about; there is a magical wall clock in their Burrow that didn't show any specific time, but rather what one family member is doing. At Nine o'clock on the regular clock, it is labelled with " Mortal Peril ".

"I haven't informed the family that I've been chosen as a champion." Ron said, glancing at Hermione, "You haven't either, have you?"

Hermione shook her head.

"I wanted to drag it out for a day, and although Professor Hap said that we can bring our family over to watch the tournament of champions, I don't want to bring them." She said.

"I can't dodge it," Ron said bitterly, "Ginny writes home every week, and Fred and George write almost once a month or two unless they get into trouble. Then there's Percy and Charlie, whose works related to Ministry of Magic, and they'll know about it sooner or later ..."

"Maybe I'll wake up one day and watch them storm into my dorm room and beat me up, or a red Howler will be sent to me by owl."

"We have to do something." Harry said as he got up.

Ron and Hermione looked up at him.

Hermione said hesitantly, "You mean classroom seven? But according to the professor's plan, we will spend the next few days following Mr. Scamander's memory to learn about dragons, and at the end of the week, they will determine each person's style and develop a strategy for the tournament. Other schools are probably doing something similar, and all of Ilvermorny's students have taken a day off today."

"We can't always count on others. Ron, what do you say?" Harry looked at Ron.

Ron licked his lips and said slowly: "I think Hermione has a point, we still can't do anything, our magic is useless against a Dragon..."

"How can it be useless!" Harry shouted, causing the portraits to stare again, but he continued without caring: "Remember the Professor's black hovering door? Remember how we got selected? Have you all forgotten?"

He stared into the eyes of Hermione, who compromised first, and then he looked at Ron, who swallowed hard twice.

A few minutes later.

Felix Hap's memory body clasped his arms as he leaned against the wall and looked at them nonchalantly.

"So, you guys are going to try out the Dragon in advance?"

"That's right." Harry said, dragging Ron and Hermione along.

Felix Hap's memory tilted his head to the side, seemingly listening to someone in the air, and the trio looked around, without discovering a single person. Under their expectant gaze, the memory body stretched his hands out as he said: "Some people disagreed. But ... I do think it's interesting ..."

The dark, ancient wall he had been leaning against gradually collapsed, as a single dragon hung its head down and a large pool of drool dripped in front of the three.

"Do you need me to give you a countdown? Three - two -"

"Run!" Harry shouted.

--

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The next day in the ancient rune class, Felix was surprised to see the trio distracted and absent-minded, so he wondered if he was putting too much pressure on them, and at the end of class, he deliberately said a few words of comfort.

In the evening, he received a letter from an owl.

He opened the letter, on which a faint scent of men's perfume still lingered, and it was from the head of the British Ministry of Magic's Werewolf Registry -

''Hello, Mr. Hap.

As of the end of the tenth month of this year (the beginning of November), the number of werewolves in Britain registered in the Werewolf Registry has increased by 20% compared to last year, and the whole ministry is excited! Thanks to the outstanding contribution of Mr. Belby and Professor Snape, I dare to guarantee that the werewolves in Britain will be effectively controlled within ten years at the latest, and I will submit a report to Wizengamot to apply for an Order of Merlin to Professor Snape at that time ...

Regarding the unrest at the Quidditch World Cup - the Ministry of Magic's definition for that aggression is unrest, most of those masked wizards are from pureblood families and what they are doing is simply a disgrace to all of us. But I can assure you that my family and I would never be like those people.

Two of the masked wizards, sentenced to three to six months imprisonment in Azkaban, each acknowledged being the masterminds of the incident - with one initiating a parade through the camp after a bout of drunkenness, and one waking up poor Muggle Robert's family by less gentle means... ...

...

The other participants got fined significant sums of money, but due to some political Obstruction, their names got hidden, and I know no more than you can obtain from the newspapers, just the names of the two masterminds - Amycus Carrow and Walden Macnair.'

Felix calmly closed the letter.

Over the next two days, owls flew in from all over the world, first from Britain itself, then from France, Europe, and finally from other continents.

Felix opened a second letter, this one from St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, where Felix had previously spent some time training a group of healers, including this young healer -

'Greetings, Dear Mr. Hap!

This is the fifth correspondence between us, and I thank you for not laughing at my silly questions and generously answering them.

Several patients with memory damage, who were judged to be incurable, have mostly regained their sanity and now can live independently. Five of them have been brought back by their families to recuperate and only needed to come once a week. The other two, who were critically ill, still need to be kept in the hospital for observation. Please forgive us for our limited ability and the inability to ever reach the level of recovery of the Longbottoms.

Regarding the matter you inquired about - the matter is true. Crabbe Sr. and Goyle Sr. suffered severe penetrating traumas, but both families have kept it a secret, and they have used their connections to hire an old retired healer to treat them. What they don't know is that this healer incidentally is my uncle, the relationship which I do not want to acknowledge in front of others - my uncle was originally very skilled, but he is an alcoholic, one time when mixing potions by mistake he mistook mandrake for ginger root, you just can't imagine what happened to the lady who came to treat scabies on her face that day! ... Anyway, he left the hospital in disgrace because of this incident, along with the scratch marks on his neck from the patient who experienced a sudden panic attack.

I have enclosed a copy of the diagnosis I got from my uncle in exchange for two pints of pure malt whiskey! That old horse trough!

Again, I wish you a good life and smooth progress in your work.

Also, I became good friends with your portrait in the hospital, and I asked one of my artist patients to paint a candy house on it, which he liked very much!

Plus, I have collected your newspaper clippings from the Quidditch World Cup, and they are on my desk.'

The third letter came from the Ministry of Magic, unsigned, just a long list of three dozen names, which Felix opened and looked over carefully, as he memorized the names with a mocking smile on his face.

The fourth letter is a reply from Damocles Belby, his handwriting is rather scribbled, and the envelope still smells of potions -

'Felix.

If you hadn't reminded me, I might have overlooked the problem of Wolfsbane Potion, forgive me I've been focusing on other potions recently ...

After your reminder, I purposely went to the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers to inquire about it, the current sales of wolfsbane potions authorized by the Ministry of Magic are stable, and the Ministry of Magic has recruited a group of werewolves to work, all of them are some dirty work, but it is certainly better than their past work... There are still a considerable number of stubborn werewolves living in the wilderness, no one knows the exact location of these werewolves, even the werewolves are not sure of their own location, they may be in England today and will be in France tomorrow ...

I learned that other European countries have approached the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers, hoping to connect them and convince the British Ministry of Magic to share the recipe of the wolfsbane potion, especially the improved version made by Severus and me. Fudge has been occupied with this matter all this time, and he can't be seen throughout the day - all this was told to me by the vice leader of the Potioneers' Society, presently these are unknown to the public.

There is one more thing worth sharing.

I met my old head, Professor Slughorn while visiting the vice leader of the society. He still enjoys life so well that I politely advised him to eat less candy and sweets, but he told me it was the greatest pleasure of his life.'

The fifth letter came from Maxwell Cowpert an Auror from France.

He and Felix had crossed paths during the previous summer when there was a bit of a misunderstanding, but the two got on good terms after the misunderstanding was cleared up.

'Dear Felix Hap.

I'm glad you wrote to me.

If you want to know about law and order on this side of France, as a front-line Auror; All I can say is those same old stories about... those shady corners, I can't figure out why you are interested in these, are you going to write a book?

To be honest, I didn't take your first few muggle books seriously when the Ministry distributed them, as I just casually stuffed them into my locker. Which I just recently discovered when I was cleaning up a bag of pet food that had rotted inside. Incidentally, I discovered your book, which also solved one of my confusions. The next day, when my nephew reported a suspicious person to me at the Muggle University in France, I thought it was related to you and mistook a certain dark wizard for you. ...

Back to the topic. The werewolves in France are fairly peaceful and have no plans to migrate - which I rather look forward to. Of course, not necessarily to the UK, the south or north is good too (don't publish the contents of this letter, or it will get me in trouble). I told my informant to wait and see until they do something suspicious, so I can close the net once and for all, and maybe when we meet again, I will be the head of Auror's office.

Also, my nephew, Calamy, chose to become an Auror. Now he is currently learning the ropes under me, and he was peeking over as I wrote this letter and got kicked out.

Finally, a cool picture from the Quidditch World Cup."

The fifth letter came from the head of the Department of Muggle Affairs under the Swiss Ministry of Magic -

"Felix, it is good to hear from you, your last suggestion was very constructive, and I submitted it with slight modifications. It's working well so far, and I'm wondering what else you have in your head ...

I saw the photo published in the Daily Prophet newspaper and couldn't believe that such a vicious incident had happened at the World Cup, something that would have never happened if it had been left to us.

Regarding your question, I learned from my colleague that that tribe of giants is still peacefully secluded in the deep mountains, with no signs of moving out. Of course, I can't be 100% sure - if observers get too close, the giants will come dashing towards them while throwing rocks.

I've attached the location of the giant tribe, be careful if you plan to explore the mountains.'

While Felix was having breakfast on Friday morning, he received his sixth letter. It came from Lucius Malfoy, and this letter was most brief, without a beginning or an end, with only a time and a place.

'Meet at the top of the tallest mountain outside Hogwarts on Friday, November 4, at eleven o'clock in the evening.'

He casually erased the writing on it and spread a layer of jam on his bread, he still had a day of classes to attend today.

--

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By late evening.

Felix walked out of the great hall after dinner and got blocked by Cedric and Roger Davies, who are waiting in the hallway.

"Weather magic? That's a very rare and unusual branch of magic." Felix looked at Cedric with some surprise.

"I think it's very suitable for the first task." Cedric said with a level-headed view, "When you can't defeat your opponent, you can try to use tactics such as hiding and shielding vision, etc. in a roundabout way. I looked up some spells in the library over the past two days, Smokescreen Spell, it can create a cloud of smoke out of thin air, thus I don't have to use a combination of the Water-Making Spell and Exploding Charm."

"You are trying to develop deeper in this area?" Felix thought about it seriously and finally asked him slowly, "It's not impossible, but the fog will be restrained by the dragon's flames, have you thought about that?"

"Professor Flitwick gave me some advice, he said one of the necessary spells for dragon keepers is Extinguishing Spells, which can be used to extinguish the magical flame of dragons..."

Felix nodded and said approvingly, "That's true, but it takes a lot of practice."

"That's right, that spell is so difficult that we're not sure if we'll be able to reach the level of those dragon keepers before the tournament. So there has to be a backup plan, and we've learned enough about dragons in Classroom 7 over the past few days to know the characteristics of each one. Collins came up with an idea-"

"Why she didn't come here?"

"Oh, uh, she confiscated a batch of offending badges and has been filling out forms ..."

Felix nodded, "Go on, what is her idea?"

"Professor Sprout's eighth greenhouse inspired her. As you know, there are seven greenhouses in the school, not counting the virtual greenhouse in classroom seven, which is the eighth ..." Cedric explained, "Professor Sprout's memory replicates all kinds of rare plants, but the rarer they are, they tend to be more ... quirky."

He said with carefully chosen words. He along with Roger and Collins had tried it and ended up learning a harsh lesson from various magical plants. Devil's Snare, Whomping Willow, Blackthorn, Boom Berry, Mimbulus mimbletonia ... and much more stuff that they barely recognized.

In the end, it was Sprout's memory body that came out to free them, and Roger Davies was swallowed by a giant Umbrella Flower, with only two legs visible, and despite knowing that there was no life-threatening danger, they still felt their hearts palpitating.

This led Cedric to be somewhat afraid of his smiling and jovial head for days afterward.

But it was because that incident was so memorable that they subconsciously thought about it when they were learning about dragons and thinking about coping strategies.

"Professor Sprout was somewhat reluctant," Cedric said, "Nevertheless she gave us some precious blackthorn seeds."

He looked to Roger Davies next to him, "Roger has learned the Herbivicus Charm and has a good potion to blend, so according to Professor Sprout's method, we can get a batch of blackthorn that can grow fast."

"The only drawback is that this approach cannot be used as a regular tactic against the enemy. Because the seeds of blackthorn are very precious, furthermore, using potions and Herbivicus Charm will destroy the structure of the seeds and will make them wither quickly."

Felix thought for a while in his mind, isn't it the same as his little assistant's beaded pouch? She also has a couple of devil's snares in her pouch, which she probably neglected now. It worked similarly to the method Cedric had proposed, except the devil's snare was processed with a rune.

Felix pondered silently as he looked at the two a while later.

"Originally, I was planning to keep this part for the weekend - I will be explaining the mutual restraint and cooperation between the spells, then test the spells you are good at, combine your respective characteristics to develop a strategy, and finally take advantage of the seventh classroom to make you practice over and over again ... but since you already have your own ideas. " Felix drew out a parchment, with a quick swish he wrote down the names of several books and a string of spells.

"This contains some information on weather magic, you can read it first." He immediately frowned and put away the outstretched slip of paper, " I thought of a point, if there is anyone that is the best at weather magic, besides the tent merchant, it would be Mr. Scamander."

"Mr. Scamander?" Cedric and Roger Davies sized him up curiously.

"Ah, yes." Felix gave a reminiscent look, "He and his wife lived in reclusion in Dorset, I visited them once during the holidays, and that's how I got my Niffler. They had a huge basement that had been expanded with an undetectable extension charm that housed magical creatures from all over the world that needed some care."

Cedric and Roger Davies blinked and seemed to think of something.

"You should know that different magical creature have different environments suitable for their survival, and for this reason, Newt has divided different areas, each with very different terrain and weather, with volcanoes, pools of water, thunderclouds, and dense forests ... Although not very big, it is very comprehensive. "

"We completely overlooked that!" Cedric shouted, glancing at Roger Davies, and both had an urge to run to classroom seven right now.

When they left excitedly, Felix's thought revolved, he hadn't bothered much about them in the past two days, and he never expected the young wizards to be quite active. Are those three doing the same?

Secretly training for it too?

He smacked his lips, students with motivation were easy to guide, now he is looking forward to tomorrow.

Tonight, however, he had an important meeting.

In the dark night.

The November night has been cold, especially at the top of the open mountain, where the wind whistles and the trees flutter.

Felix sat on a bare boulder, mentally calculating the time for the full moon, and before he knew it, the time reached eleven o'clock.

"Snort!"

A figure suddenly appeared, wearing a hood and a valuable fur cloak.

Felix shot a glance at the stranger, "Lucius, you have a beautiful walking cane."

Lucius lowered his hood, his pale blond hair looked like silvery gray at night, he exhaled a cold breath, and as he met Felix's eyes, he shivered coldly and let out a muffled grunt.

"Legilimency?" He said, in annoyance.

"Relax, I'm not usually this rough, but considering you seek to work with me, I always have to try what you are capable of first ... it's the basis of all cooperation."

Lucius frowned.

He realized that something is wrong. Before this, no, before the Quidditch World Cup to be exact, his attitude towards Felix had been anything but close. There had been no connections between them before Sirius' brother Regulus Black's funeral, where he had represented several pureblood families in an attempt to bring this dazzling new star into their group.

Unfortunately, that attempt was fruitless.

But then Felix vaguely expressed an attitude of cooperation, and the style of speech at that funeral seemed very familiar to him. In his imagination, Felix was ready to enter politics and join the Ministry of Magic. Of course, he would not regard any ordinary position, so it could only be Fudge's position.

If he wanted to become the Minister of Magic, he would necessarily be inseparable from the support of some families. And Malfoy can sway the attitudes of a large group of people.

But this is not the only possibility. Because at some point, Felix's influence had become very far-reaching, Lucius stared at Felix with his calculating gaze, he vaguely felt that Felix is imitating a man.

Dumbledore!

The same academic achievements, the same superior strength, the same preference for Muggles, and even - they both became professors at Hogwarts.

The only difference is that Felix also runs a company, which is managed by a werewolf.

How could Lucius possibly be unaware of who Lupin was? The first-generation member of the Order of the Phoenix, Felix appointed Dumbledore's men, what does this mean?

He carefully chewed the implications of Felix's words, a thin layer of sweat warmed up against the cold wind, he thought left and right for a while before speaking tactfully: "I think you stated the opposite, Mr. Hap? It was you who sought to cooperate with the Malfoys-"

"Well," Felix said softly, "it seems you don't realize how dangerous your situation is, not a bad act at the Quidditch World Cup, as much as I'd like to give you a hex ... I would remind you of that diary. "

Lucius Malfoy's face turned white with dread.

"Mr. Hap, I don't understand what you mean."

"There are some things I will not divulge; after all, your son is involved - a student of mine as well - and in that aspect, we share the same will." Felix said, "But I need you to be clear on where the danger lies, to avoid being caught unaware when you are purged later on."

"The Chamber of Secrets has nothing to do with the Malfoys, and even less to do with Draco." Lucius said through clenched teeth, "Besides, that man is dead!"

Felix gave him a deep look, " So be it, but that doesn't stop you from taking your time to mull it over when you're alone and have nothing to do. So, let me tell you a story about a clever little wizard who, well, happens to have the same hair as you ..."

"... And he outwitted a relic of a Dark Lord - the diary that held his precious memories." Felix didn't mention the Horcrux, but Lucius' face is bloodless at this point. "And I, as a professor in the school, recognized this dark magic item and destroyed it without hesitation, thus protecting the entire student population, especially those of muggle origin."

"A glorious accomplishment, won't you agree, Lucius?"

--

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Lucius Malfoy's expression is solemn, a bitter cold wind seems to freeze his throat. It took some effort to open his tightly closed lips, he seemed surprised. As he said woodenly, "Very brave ... Draco... I mean that little wizard."

Felix carefully examined his face.

The wind began to blow again, and the black shadows of the trees swayed in the empty space between them. After a moment of silence, Lucius said softly, "I know a bit of information, the Malfoys are always well-informed ..."

"... About a few months ago, one late night during the Quidditch ... World Cup, the Dark Mark on the arm suddenly awoke from its slumber, something that had not happened for more than a decade... ... Some people were terrified, they approached me to talk about it, and I ... comforted them."

Felix looked at Lucius with interest. So, he already knew about Voldemort's anomaly? He must have been scared to death for a long time ... Quidditch World Cup, is he talking about those Death Eaters who falsely claim to be subjected to an Imperius Curse, thus escaping punishment?

So this is why, when he handed an olive branch to him at that moment, Lucius obediently took it?

"The dark mark on the arm?" Felix asked, "I recall it only appeared over the victim's house, as a sign of Death Eater malice?"

Lucius shivered. As he met those calm blue eyes, he couldn't help but think back to what had happened at the Quidditch World Cup. It was this same man in front of him who had teased hundreds of wizards with absolute dominance ... His magic seemed to be limitless, penetrating through the chest of the man beside him through a long-distance... Every time he woke up from a nightmare, he pondered about one thing, what if the owner of the blue eyes wanted to deal with him that time?

His posture became more and more humble, and his body looked shorter.

He whispered, "This is a hidden secret. The Dark Lord marked loyal followers with a mark that served as a means of contacting them ... and those followers would be treated differently by the Dark Lord and given the privilege of contacting him."

Felix nodded, that made sense. In the wizarding community, there were fewer means to communicate with someone who's away instantly, mainly because for wizards, distance is no longer a concern; Apparition and Floo powder solved a majority of the distance issues.

But during the outbreak of war, wizards' need for instant communication and intelligence transfer had increased dramatically, and each camp employed different means. As far as he knew, the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic always acted collectively, seeking to gain an edge with their regional advantage; the Order of the Phoenix used Patronus to deliver messages; as for the Death Eaters'side, he had previously been unclear ...

So it's using the Dark Mark?

"In that case, each Death Eater's arm was branded?"

"Not really ... it was for those who were ' loyal' followers," Lucius emphasized the words again.

"How do I interpret the word 'loyal'?"

"... The Dark Lord only cares about useful people." Lucius lowered his head uneasily, making it impossible to see his rapidly darting gray eyes, "Those who are skilled, those who have status, those who have money, or those with special skills ... like Severus Snape."

He glanced up quickly as Felix stared at him expressionlessly, and he hurriedly lowered his head again.

"Severus?" Felix repeated slowly.

"Yes ... Yes, when he was at school he displayed an extraordinary talent for Potions, far more than I did, and more than any other member of the Potions Club at the time. The Dark Lord valued his talent and wouldn't let him participate in the operations all the time, as he would provide precious potions from the rear ... Later, it just happened that Slughorn retired and Hogwarts was in desperate need of a Potions class professor, so the Dark Lord arranged for him to enter the school and spy Dumbledore's every move."

Felix nodded slightly, he knew about it, Dumbledore vouched for Severus after the war, proving that he was his undercover agent. But now a question is, the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix, who first and who second?

His gut feeling tells him that there is a shocking secret lurking.

"When did Severus join the Death Eaters?"

"At an assembly before graduation, the Dark Lord personally convinced him."

After a long silence, Felix spoke up: "We're off-topic, apart from that time, has there been any abnormality in the Dark Mark after that?"

"There have been several times one after another ... with a burning sensation at intervals ..."

"Hmm." Felix said, "It's like a bad signal from a muggle phone?"

Lucius froze for a moment and said, "You're right Mr. Hap." He knew what Muggle Phone is and what a bad signal means.

"So, one more thing left, let me see what the Dark Mark looks like on your arm ..."

Lucius jerked his head up, he had avoided mentioning Death Eaters and associating himself with that word in the previous conversation. But now he had to make a decision.

"Lucius ...?"

After a moment's hesitation, he shakily lifted his cuff. On the inner side of his left forearm, there is a light red pattern that looks like a birthmark. It looked very faint, making it impossible to tell exactly what it looks like. If it were placed somewhere else, people would be convinced that it is an early symptom of dragon pox.

Felix repeatedly compared it with the information in his mind and finally saw a few familiar shades from some distinctive patterns.

"Normally ... in the days when the Dark Lord reigned, it was bright red, like blood. After the disappearance of the Dark Lord, the mark faded, but now the faded mark has started to become visible again. We had suspected, once again, that he was preparing for his reign ..."

Lucius said with a distant look.

"So, you've decided to choose a side?" Felix looked at him with a smile.

Lucius's thin lips quivered, and he didn't speak.

"Just kidding, of course, you can have it both ways, and place bets on both sides - like you always do. The future depends on no one, but, Lucius, unlike Voldemort, I have enough regard for people, I hope we can come to an understanding later."

"Perhaps a message from you could save the life of someone I know, and I look forward to that with great anticipation and pay my respects in advance to you." Felix straightened his body and said in a cold tone, "Take these words to heart so that the lightning won't fall on you."

"If that day comes when the Dark Lord returns ..." Lucius said with difficulty under great pressure, "I am certainly, certainly willing ... to ..."

"Willing to what?"

"... to contribute to the cause of justice, Mr. Hap."

Felix gave a satisfied smile, "Look on the bright side, maybe he'll never come back, and you've just promised a blank cheque."

"Oh yes," his tone lightened again, "I saw a broker entering Malfoy Manor, does he work for the Malfoys? I'm interested in that... It looks like you have your own set of rules, without adding some extra, unnecessary magic ..."

...

Clouds obscured the moon as Lucius Malfoy stood still, the image of Felix Hap silently disappeared in his mind, just as he had done at the Quidditch World Cup, without any semblance of forewarning at all.

He breathed a long sigh of relief, today's events had been so chilling that even with the partial promise he didn't feel any safer - a shiver ran through him at the thought of messing with the Dark Lord right under his nose, and no one knew better than he did how scary he was. It is a good thing that he only had to reveal some insignificant information, and he used this excuse to convince himself.

At this moment, he wished more than anyone else that the Dark Lord's return plan would be aborted, but people like him would never pin their future on vague 'hopes'.

As long as he is cautiously worked, he will obtain a ticket to the future securely.

No matter who loses and who wins!

He cursed in a low voice in the middle of the night. He should write to Draco when he gets back and asks him to come home for Christmas. It is time to teach him properly, all he knows is to tangle with that Potter in school all day and constantly losing...

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The next weekend, the six champions gathered again.

Felix led them on a stroll along the Black Lake, the water sparkled in the warm daylight, and several mermaids with pitchforks poked out their half-ugly faces and quietly peered at them through the cracks in the aquatic weeds.

"Did you guys gain anything?"

Felix's words were like a switch, as Hermione immediately muttered next to him.

"I looked up some information, those books about raising dragons from Hagrid are useless, The Drowned Dragon-kin described how to use magic to trim the dragon's nails, but they recommend buying the oversized nail clippers they manufacture, instead of using magic ... and how to treat broken skin ... The book rather mentions that you can bribe them with two vats of fine liquor, but I think that will only make their flames more intense ..."

"Harry's disarming charm is useless, the scales of the dragons are too tough, at best a few scales are tipped off once, and then the angry dragon spewed blue flames-"

Harry tugged at her sleeve as she blinked her eyes retrospectively, "Uh, to sum up, we figured a couple of spells that might work - the Conjunctivitis Curse, Apparition, Golden Flame, Illumination ... but we aren't sure if Apparition can be used during the task."

"There's also the matter of how to deal with dragons descending from the sky; I've found that even if you don't include the flames, they can be terrifying when they pounce ..."

She sighed, "It's just too hard to defeat a Dragon."

That said, she found Cedric, Roger Davies, Collins Foley, and Professor Hap all glanced at her at the same time, which made Hermione a bit puzzled, did she say something wrong?

Felix said oddly, "Miss Granger, what gave you the notion of defeating a dragon?"

Hermione subconsciously looked at Harry.

Harry scratched his head, "isn't it? Mr. Bagman said the difficulty would be great, and we -- mainly Hermione, she read that a cockatrice rampaged uncontrollably during a competition, and all three headmasters were injured ... and guessed that our difficulty must be higher than that. "

Roger Davies startled, " it can't be true, right?"

Felix gently shook his head: "The possibility of this is very low. A little hint, the Ministry of Magic picked all the female dragons that were hatching eggs in the dragon sanctuary, perhaps to have you get the dragon eggs from the protection of the mother dragons."

The six pondered how to deal with this type of trial.

"... Of course, depending on the specific format of the competition, some more preparation never goes wrong."

Felix said. Finally, they came under a huge willow tree, and he gestured for them to sit down, "So, let's put aside the dragon for a moment and talk about spell restraint and cooperation."

"Back in your first year of dueling class, Professor Flitwick showed you how spells work together, and you may have tried them. I'll start with the restraint relationship of spells-"

"Generally speaking, when we want to cancel the effect of a certain spell, especially a vicious curse, it is most convenient to use the recognized counterspells. For example, the Concealing charms and the Revealing Charms, the Stunning Spell and the Reviving Spell, the Locking Spell and the Unlocking Charm, the banishing spell and the Summoning Charm, etc. ..."

"In the same way, we can use 'Riddikulus' against Boggart, 'Expecto Patronum' against Dementors, or 'Silencio' against the Fwooper, and Revulsion Jinx against the Grindylows ..."

"But more often we need to be flexible when faced with a spell that has no established counters - if we want to remove some liquid, 'Tergeo' and 'Scourgify ' are fine; or if we want to expel some mosquitoes or small animals, the Banishing Charm is more suitable, and the Eradication Spell is too much unless you are facing a swarm of small spiders. In addition, although I didn't verify it, I guess the Cheering Charm can be used to cure the after-effects of the Dementors."

"Think a little more broadly! In a duel, if you want to break the Shield charm's defense, the most effective strategy would be Jelly-Legs Curse... Of course, this is for novices who don't have much experience. But no matter what the time, you can consider using transfiguration to interfere with your opponent or create a foul-smelling environment, and yes, I'm talking about a Dungbombs ."

Harry and Ron grinned.

Felix told them about the characteristics of each spell, and they listened with fascination. They had rarely had the opportunity to receive such comparisons between different spells; in class, they had learned them one by one, spell by spell.

Felix continued to explain.

"Of course, the spells can also work together. Professor Flitwick's style is more advanced and requires a certain amount of magic control, but there is a slightly more crude way to achieve a similar effect by quickly reciting a spell."

"For example, the Snowflake-making spell and the Slippery Jinx can work together to create a very smooth surface zone, or three people can simultaneously cast a Gouging Spell to create a pitfall in a moment ... Don't forget, there are three of you."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other, in this regard they had previously cooperated with each other unconsciously.

In the third year, they used the stunning spell to sneak up on Peter Pettigrew at the same time, knocking him out with a clean blow. It took Peter Pettigrew's companions a while to wake him up, but he was not in good shape when he regained consciousness, and his reflexes became more than a beat slower, so eventually, his companions ran away while he was captured.

"Why do people in the Ministry of Magic think that a three-person team ought to be more difficult? Just because there are two more people?" Felix looked at them with a serious expression and said, "Remember the three keywords Mr. Crouch mentioned?"

"Courage, cooperation, and fire."

"Each word is important. 'Fire' points to the direction of your danger - the dragon, and 'courage' is your biggest psychological obstacle in the early stage, I'm glad to see that you are in good spirits ..." He glanced at Ron, who was kind of psychologically inferior, but now he seems to be doing well.

"And 'cooperation' is the key that you need to pass the trail."

Everyone looked at each other thoughtfully, and it seemed to Felix that Cedric's group had gone one step farther ahead on the path of cooperation, at least they had a clear division of labour, weather magic by Cedric, Blackthorn by Roger Davies, and about Collins he is uncertain but has confidence that she certainly will take some key role as well.

Harry's group, on the other hand, he didn't know about them that well. However, after a while, he will know.

"You guys think carefully and see what you can do. In the afternoon we will go to classroom seven, to experience actual contact with the Dragon, although it is fake, it is also very referential, I believe you will be amazed."

Felix said mysteriously, this statement made Cedric and his group very expectant, but Harry and his group just looked a little sickly, especially Ron, his face turned paler.

He secretly shook his head, his psychological quality is indeed inferior, he just hoped that they won't scare him to death.

--

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A sharp chirp rang out from the golden flames, and a beautiful firebird poked its head out, a golden flame blazing on its forehead, its long beak reflecting a dazzling light.

"Harry!"

Hermione shouted, with her wand and left hand in front of her, trying her best to manipulate her magic - the dragon in classroom seven is fake, but their magic is real, and it has to be carefully controlled.

They had been taught that lesson before.

Harry, who was still circling the dragon, immediately ran far away, and Ron's long-prepared bright ball of light shot out into a straight beam, hitting the dragon's wings diagonally, and then it got scattered by the smooth scales into an even finer light, illuminating the dim space nearby.

The spell missed the mark!

Ron rushed to adjust the angle, this time he finally made the light beam to blast in the face of the dragon, the bright light is not blinding, but still blocked most of its vision. This caused a brief pause in the Dragon's movements, and it shook its head uneasily, as its two large, powerful claws grazed the brown rock with deadly force, grazing out a series of sparks like daggers.

The firebird spanned hundreds of feet in the blink of an eye, its long, sharp beak aimed at the dragon's abdomen, where the scales had somehow been chipped away by the external force-

"Snick!"

Dots of blood spilled down.

The dragon let out a roar of pain and smacked the firebird, turning it into a pure flame that coated its body. It huffed and puffed, spewing out a dazzling blue flame, which turned the grass and trees into ashes, and the stones burst into flames, as it instantly drowned the trio.

After everything returned to normal, Harry licked his dry lips, his green eyes were still reminiscent of that scene. Hermione and Ron came over with pale faces and looked at Cedric's team, who are standing aside with their mouths wide open.

Currently, it is afternoon, Felix brought them to the seventh classroom, intended to let them 'first' feel the might of the dragon.

The result was Cedric and his group of champions were caught off guard, their performance was not quite that perfect, but they basically showed their respective characteristics, including Cedric's weather magic, Roger Davies' enchanted plants, and Collins' Disillusionment Charm and superb Nonverbal spell.

And Harry's group ...

It's hard to describe in proper terms, they show a great understanding of how the dragon attacks and many of their reactions are done subconsciously. This degree of understanding can't be learned from books, or by listening to stories, it must only be gained from practicing in real life and remembered with their bodies.

This is also how they train dragon keepers. Every dragon keeper, in their first or second year of work, will gain a few scars on their bodies, and some will deliberately keep one or two as proof of their courage.

"Still not working ... our fire magic is inherently inferior to that of the dragon, and even Hermione's ancient magic can't penetrate the thick dragon hide ...," Harry said with a slight gasp.

"Only the most powerful spell can do it; In fact, Sirius' suggestion is good, using the Conjunctivitis Curse. But that requires excellent dynamic vision and precise manipulation, and it is estimated that only Harry is likely to be able to do that among the three of us, but he didn't master that spell yet." Hermione's chest continued to rise and fall, as she struggled to remain calm as possible.

Ron sat down on the floor exhausted, "Luckily we have met a Swedish Short-Snout, if we had met the Ukrainian Iron Belly or Hungarian Horntail ..." he looked meaningfully at Cedric's team, no surprise to see that their expressions were not that natural.

He felt much better. Despite the horrified expression still on his face, he began to introduce with great enthusiasm: "The Ukrainian Iron Belly is the largest, sixty to seventy feet, we have also encountered seventy feet one, it only needs to rush over and stretch out a foot ... snap! You're done, of course, you'll only see a gray shadow zooming in front of your eyes ..."

"There's also Hungarian Horntail, which is also a big guy. The fact that it breathes fire at you is fine, but at one point I managed to release a shield charm only to see a long black tail full of spikes, and you'll find your charm crumbling like an eggshell ..."

"The Peruvian Vipertooth Dragon's breath is poisonous, and it's also exceptionally fast, making it difficult for the spell to hit it ..."

"Well," Felix said helplessly, interrupting Ron who appeared to be complaining but was actually showing off, while he looked at them with some surprise: "You have surprisingly completed part of the exercise ahead of schedule, and although there are still some problems with the tactics, it is obvious that you have adapted to the rhythm of the dragon's attack, and you are not intimidated enough to be unable to recite a spell ... However, I have to restrict you so that you don't develop some kind of terrible habit."

"The more times you fail, the more your hearts will reinforce the notion that everything in classroom seven is fake, and you may get overconfidence or confuse this false courage till the real competition, During the tournament, the surrounding audience, the judges, or the venue, everything will remind you of what is real. At that time, you will find your courage is like a beautiful soap bubble, a poke, it will burst ..."

Harry opened his mouth, wanting to argue a few words. But it seems to make sense, after dozens of "deaths", they really no longer cared about injuries, and when they participate in the tournament with this mindset, perhaps they will play better, but it's more likely that they will be reckless by habit.

For example, he tried to buy time for Hermione with a completely useless spell once and ended up getting smacked to death.

"Next, we are going to do some targeted training, and both teams need to make tremendous improvements ... What I am going to do is help you find what you are best at, because you will soon find that there is simply not enough time."

...

From classroom seven, the Trio put on their thick cloaks and walked out of the castle along the path to Hagrid's place.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione smiled as a large black dog running around the pumpkin patch behind Hagrid's hut.

When he saw them, the big black dog ran over and turned into a man in front of them. Sirius' hair looked short and clean, and his face looked fairer, which made him appear younger.

"Sirius-" Harry hugged him, "You don't have to come over every day."

Sirius flashed his teeth, "It's my duty, and I'm bored with nothing to do!"

"Remus suggested you to get a job, it's time for you to get back to your normal life." Harry said, but an irrepressible smile still spread across his face.

Sirius scratched his chin absent-mindedly, a little distracted. "There's no hurry with that sort of thing, I can never bring myself to ... leave it alone, how about it, did Felix get shocked?"

These days, it was him who was guiding the three, including how to cooperate, but he is not an official member of Hogwarts, so he is not allowed to enter the castle, because of that, he hangs around the vicinity of Hagrid's hut, which is also the result of Dumbledore turning a blind eye to the situation.

Harry helplessly told the matter, Sirius rubbed his chin and sat on a huge pumpkin, Hagrid's hound, Fang, sniffed his shoes and wagged its tail at him.

"Go, go and play somewhere, Fang!" He skilfully tossed Fang a dog cookie and thought seriously, "He has a point, indeed there's a possibility that you may confuse the reality with the fake, but we've achieved our goal - you've experienced the various attacks of the dragon personally, and that's important!"

He said with some gloating, "I can see the champions of Uagadou running around the Forbidden Forest, probably scratching their heads."

As hosts, Hogwarts' champions do have a certain advantage, specifically in terms of the vast school resources behind them, although Hogwarts has opened its library and some of its resources to other schools, but the most crucial classroom seven is not available for them.

"But don't get cocky, I saw a few new faces show up at those schools' quarters, they should be professors from their schools, who came to give special training to the champions."

Sirius quickly dismissed the topic.

"So, let's start today's practice, the Conjunctivitis Curse, the Extinguishing Spell, the Softening Charm, and if we have time, we can try the Disillusionment Charm and the Transfiguration Magic, but it might be too hard for you guys, and I'm not good at transfiguration ..."

Harry said hesitantly, "I don't think the Conjunctivitis Curse will work as well as we thought, and most of the dragons we saw had thick scales around its head, with protruding spines and spikes, making it difficult for us to hit the mark."

Ron said whimsically, "What do you guys think about the Bat-Bogey Hex? I've heard from Ginny that this spell can turn boogers into bats, imagine a swarm of bats flying out of a dragon's nose and stretching its nose to the max ..."

Sirius coughed twice, " Not a bad idea, but no one has ever tried it, you know, the Conjunctivitis Curse has been used against dragons for a long time."

He looked to the three: "Regarding the accuracy of the spell, there's really only one way to resolve this, and that's a lot of practice." He saw the trio's expressions crumble as he continued, "Of course, a good practice plan will yield you twice the result, and you'll need some tools that you can use for this purpose"

"Did you bring them, Harry?" He asked.

Harry dubiously took out the golden snitch from his pocket, last night Sirius asked him to bring the golden snitch through the two-way mirror, he didn't understand why, and when he asked about it in the mirror, instead of answering, he changed the subject and said goodbye.

Sirius' hand brushed over the wings of the golden snitch, the golden snitch's wings lit up with a row of runes, "This has two hidden functions, one being its interior has been extended by the Undetectable Extension Charm to accommodate many things and the other being that it has a 'follow' function. "

" Follow function?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"That's right, it will fly around you within a certain range which is adjustable, I originally wanted it to help you practice Quidditch, but you didn't seem to have noticed it."

Harry felt a little embarrassed as he explained in a whisper, "I was afraid it would get lost, so I didn't take it outside."

Sirius didn't dwell on this little problem: "In addition to practicing Quidditch, it can also help you practice your spell accuracy - next, I'll have it fly around you at an altitude of twenty to fifty feet, and you need to hit it with the Conjunctivitis Curse, of course, it's ok if you don't know the spell yet! You can try other spells first!"

The trio became excited, and Hermione asked with some concern, " Won't we break it?"

"No," Sirius said indifferently, "It's got a powerful protective enchantment on it, and I mentioned it to Felix at the time that the gift was meant to be passed on to Harry's children."

Harry turned red as he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

--

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"Whoosh~"

The Golden Snitch stretched its slender wings in Harry's hand and disappeared in a flash as they watched.

The Trio looked around in a panic, "There it is!" Harry pointed above Ron's head as he said, a disarming charm flew out and hit empty air. Hermione and Ron scrambled to follow up the spell, as two red lights faded into the sky.

"You guys are still far from it." Sirius said smugly, shaking his head as his arms crossed.

Harry looked at his godfather with discontent, "Then give it a try."

Sirius wordlessly waved his wand, seven or eight leaves on the pumpkin vine like a sharp blade flew out, the Golden Snitch slightly twitched and dodged it. Sirius pouted humiliatingly.

"I don't believe it--"

He also joined the trio. They took up four corners, with their heads half tilted, firing spells into the sky, the Golden Snitch dodging constantly while it remained in a small area; like a nimble ghost, and even if it got hit by luck occasionally, a palm-sized transparent shield would suddenly appear on its surface, deflecting the spell with brilliant splashes of colour in the white-blue sky.

The four played with a great interest for nearly half a day until they saw three tall figures emerge from the forbidden forest, the champions of Uagadou.

Then they pointed towards them and said in a very awkward pronunciation, but their voices were not quiet, so they heard some words "cheating ... fake champions ..." one by one. Which made their mood worse.

"Leave them alone, when you beat them in the first trial, they will learn how to shut up." Sirius said in annoyance.

Harry felt that Sirius was actually trying to convince himself - Because he seems like he wanted to rush up and teach them a lesson.

Time went by, and at the last class on Friday of the week, all champions underwent their pre-tournament wand tests, with Mr. Ollivander himself personally dropped by for the Wand Weighing ceremony and gave an appraisal of the state of each champions' wand.

Bagman and Headmasters are present, Harry surveyed the other school champions, Krum seemed even more silent, with a dull expression, as if he had forgotten how to speak. Byers, who he hadn't seen in a while, also showed up, looking much darker than before, he knows the reason for it as he overheard their group practice every time he passed the Quidditch pitch, but there were always two Pukwudgie standing at the entrance, so he never went over there.

Beauxbatons's Fleur stood tall and proud in the corner, the other two champions of her school standing with her at the center, at her left and right.

The three champions of Uagadou had not undergone much change, except that they seemed more toned, making everyone wonder how on earth they were trained. Ollivander was not very pleased when the guy who looked like a wall pulled out something that looked more like a wand than a wand.

"The African wand ... is too polarized, more unusual than the German and American ones ... I can't give an appropriate evaluation, at the task, perhaps it can be used in a novel way at some point... ..."

Harry guessed it can be used to slam the dragon's toes while it's not paying attention, he groaned at the idea and looked away exaggeratedly as the panther-tight skin dressed Uagadou witch Nona Leibert said, "That's because we're more adept in using gestures to cast spells!"

During the wand inspection, there was a little mishap. Harry refused an interview with the woman named Rita Skeeter, a gossipy journalist, he had no liking towards her as early as his second year for slandering Headmaster Dumbledore.

When she grabbed Harry's shoulder with her red painted nail with claw-like hand and tried to lead him to the broom cupboard for an exclusive interview, he broke away even without thinking, and she immediately shot Harry a dangerous look, though a false smile piled up on her face when the rest of her eyes saw Professor Hap in her sight.

In the end, the newspaper presented their names, along with the relatively normal 'concerns' - questions about their age. The champions of other schools were not so lucky, for example, Victor Graves, one of the champions of Ilvermorny, is heavily featured, as he had been defeated by a 'normal' fourth-year girl from Hogwarts, plus some side gossip: the champions of Beauxbatons are good at bewitching magic, and the champions of Durmstrang will all contribute a 'wonderful' feast of dark magic, also mentioned how a talented player Krum who just made a splash at the Quidditch World Cup is participating... and the introduction about Uagadou attracted lots of eyeballs with the dynamic photo of the student who transformed into an African elephant appearing on the pages of the Daily Prophet for several days in a row, causing countless people to marvel and talk about it.

One of the effects brought about by this newspaper is that Ron's news of becoming a champion finally could not be concealed. In fact, Mrs. Weasley was the only one in the Weasley family who didn't know the news, the others - Ginny, Fred, and George were all at school; Mr. Weasley and Percy were well-informed through the Ministry of Magic; Charlie worked at the Dragon Sanctuary which is closely related to the first task; and Bill, who works at the Gringotts, is in contact with his family quite frequently...

They coincidentally decided to hide it from Mrs. Weasley.

But all efforts were made in vain by Rita Skeeter's coverage, and the very next day her Howler arrived, but not to Ron, but to the Weasley twins -

"If I hadn't read it in the paper, I wonder how long it would have remained hidden! - poor little Ronnie... He's only in fourth grade -" Ron lowered his head and stared at the bowl of porridge in front of him, as if he wanted to drown himself in it, as all the people who were eating turned their heads towards him and snickered. Mrs. Weasley's deafening voice still echoed through the great hall, "Don't just be busy with all that prank stuff all the time! - care more about your brother -"

Fred and George had long ago slipped away grabbing two slices of bread, and Ron also ran out of the great hall, leaving only the dumbfounded students and the chattering Howler.

...

Everyone has a different understanding of time, and while the normal students were still making plans for their first Hogsmeade trip of the new school year, the champions were improving themselves in every possible way.

Ron hadn't submitted his Potions class assignments for two weeks straight, and Snape had put a big T right in front of him without hiding it, to which he just yawned in response, which made Snape stare at Ron the entire time during the lesson about brewing detoxification potions.

"We're definitely going to pass this year anyway." Ron said to Harry and Hermione at the end of class.

"But next year is the year of the O.W.Ls!" Hermione retorted vigorously, as she had secretly told the two that she regretted handing in the time-turner.

"Who cares, Hermione, you don't think I'm planning on taking his advanced classes, do you?" Ron looked at her strangely, "Fred and George had selectively dropped some classes last year, which also included the core class astronomy, and in the history of magic class, they are discussing their product ideas ..."

"That's not the same! Do you have any plans for your future, potions are essential in many fields!" They left the classroom with a lot of bickering and went straight to the library, there were still so many spells they were not adept at.

Felix's demands were also getting stricter, and in the last few days, he had both groups of champions tackle two dragons at the same time. While the memory bodies of the professors formed a panel of judges to evaluate them.

" The idea of summoning your broom by using Summoning Charm is good, but you must consider your other two teammates - Harry!"

"Collins, you are facing a dangerous beast, you also have to learn to cover your scent. Also ... your Freezing Charm is good."

"Ron, the Gouging Spell does not work that way, you can not jump in on your own."

Finally, the date November 24 arrived.

--

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At noon, the Hogwarts students gathered in front of Clock Tower, where they got led by Professor Flitwick, in the direction of the tournament venue.

"Minerva went ahead and took the champions to the makeshift tent." Flitwick said excitedly.

Felix walked alongside him, nonchalantly at the front, the students behind him chattering and excitedly discussing, and a male wizard called out " I heard the dragon roar last night-"

He turned his head back, and behind him, the crowd flocked, like a black meandering river. As they walked out of the castle, they crossed the long bridge and walked down the slope.

As they passed the Black Lake along the way, Durmstrang students draped in capes stepped out of their boats to join the parade, and as they passed near Hagrid's Hut, a colossal carriage door opened and seven or eight Beauxbatons students in blue cotton satin uniforms emerged from the golden steps, then from the temporary quarters on the Quidditch pitch the students of Ilvermorny joined them, and the wizards, of both genders, from Uagadou, were standing in pairs by the Forbidden Forest and waiting for them.

The uniforms of these four schools added vitality to the monotonous black tide, like colourful swimming fish in the river.

The group walked along the edge of the Forbidden Forest for about twenty minutes, the castle and the lake were both out of sight, they had passed beyond the boundaries of the school, the trees and shrubs grew sparsely to the right, and deeper in is a lush, dark forbidden forest.

He heard the sound of horses' hooves. "Is it centaur?" Felix squinted his eyes at the dense forbidden forest, and an odd-looking horse head poked out, a Thestral. As he looked over, it disappeared immediately after.

After bypassing yet another area of woodland, a temporary circular grandstand stood before his eyes, with crude stacks of wooden piles stacked high on top of each other, rising and falling along the terrain. This should be the grandstand, which encloses the site in a large circle.

On the west side of it is a huge silver tent, and Felix catches a glimpse of Ludo Bagman hurrying inside.

"Everyone gets on the grandstand in order, don't overcrowd the place." Flitwick stood on a wooden step and said to the crowd that kept leaning over. Felix whispered an apology and walked towards the tent.

Just as he reached the entrance, he could sense a solemn, oppressive atmosphere, and Ludo Bagman's cheerful voice seemed just so out of place.

"Well, it's really quite simple, you have to pick out the models in there, and yes, you should know that there are different types of dragons, and you have to pick them on behalf of your team - ladies first."

When Felix entered, he saw Bagman standing in the middle of the champions with a smile on his face, purposely dressed in the old team uniform of the Wimbourne Wasps he had played for in his youth, and holding a purple silk bag.

He is surrounded by the captains of the six teams - Victor Graves, Fleur, Krum, Cedric, Nona Leibert, and Harry. Of the six, Harry is the shortest, especially when he stands next to the taller witch from Uagadou, like a lost child. Nevertheless, today he has to confront the threat of the dragon together with his friends.

The rest of the team is scattered around the tent, staring at their captain, the sound of breathing seems to have been lost in this tent.

Fleur with trembling hands took out a small, exquisite model of a Common Welsh Green from the bag, her face turned a little pale for a moment.

Felix, however, had a black face, this is 'Future World' dragon magic lamp! Is the Ministry of Magic that lazy?

"Ah~ lady, you're lucky~" Bagman said. That's when he heard a muffled voice ringing in his ears, "Can't you guys make your own set of models ..."

He looked back and saw Felix who had an unpleasant expression and stammered, "Felix ... that one, it was suggested by a young man in the ministry, as to use these lovely magic lamps to offset the pressure about the real dragon and calm down the champions... ..."

He patted the Common Welsh Green model in Fleur's hand. It immediately moved and flared its teeth and claws, startling her and causing her to throw it at Bagman's face as he awkwardly picked it up off the ground and handed it to Fleur, saying, "Oh, Isn't it look cute."

Judging by the looks on everyone's faces in the tent, this display is simply lousy.

Fleur coldly made her way back to her teammates, gibbering in French as she outlined the final tactics, and Felix glanced briefly at the two champions whose bodies kept wobbling, who didn't pay any heed to her words

Uagadou went second, and Nona drew a dragon with pearl-shaped curved scales, the Antipodean Opaleye which is recognized as the most beautiful dragon, but she showed no interest in taking a second look, as she eagerly discussed the details of the dragon with her teammates.

"Not too aggressive, likes to eat sheep ... Its flames are sticky like lava ..."

Graves got the Hebridean Black, a species of dragon that can generally reach thirty feet in height when it reaches adulthood, and the females are a bit bigger.

After that, Krum pulled out the bright red Chinese fireball, he then crossed his arms around and leaned against a pole in the tent, his eyes fixed on a broken hole in the roof of the tent overhead, as his teammate came over and whispered, "Viktor..."

He said with a calm face, "Proceed as planned." The two teammates nodded silently.

Cedric got the blue Swedish Short-Snout dragon, his face looked pleased, he quickly came next to Roger Davies and Collins to show them, the original heavy expression of the three relaxed to varying degrees, this is one of the more suitable for their tactical choice according to their judgment.

The last is Harry, his expression is terrible, he knows what that remaining one is - a black Hungarian Horntail, the largest and most fierce-looking one.

He, Ron, and Hermione had sneaked out to see it the night before, cloaked in his invisibility cloak, and he believed everyone else had done the same; it was no secret when Charlie's team of dragon keepers arrived for their appointment, in Hagrid's case - he preferred to call it an inconvenient encounter - As Madame Maxime had brought Beauxbaton's champions openly to take a look.

Amidst Bagman's expectant expression, Harry woodenly pulled out the last model of a dragon, as he lowered his head to stare at the model of the silly Hungarian Horntail in his hand. The little dragon spread its wings, showing its tiny fangs, and seemed to be smiling, looking surprisingly similar to Bagman in front of him.

But Harry will not be fooled, he had seen what the real Hungarian Horntail looked like, the tail which should have been full of sharp spikes now looked very smooth - the spikes were turned into bronze dots, he subconsciously glanced at Professor Hap and thought that 'Future World ' company's modelling design is somewhat outrageous.

How come I didn't notice this before? He thought in wonder.

Harry came back toward Ron and Hermione, and he said briskly, " We need to change our strategy."

...

"Well, you've all got it!" Bagman said, "You've all drawn the dragon that you're going to confront, and I'm going to excuse myself temporarily from you for a moment as I am going to be giving commentary to the audience; Oh, and there will be someone will come to take you into the arena at the start of the match, and you will go out when you hear the whistle. Understand?"

The crowd went silent for a moment as Cedric asked a question, "What's our mission? And the order of the match?"

"Mission?" Bagman flinched, "Oh, uh ... I didn't say that?" He glanced at the rest with some confusion, everyone in the tent looked at him as if they wanted to eat him, he took out his handkerchief to wipe the sweat on his forehead, "Well, it's my oversight, I should have made it clear from the beginning ... like this, get the dragon egg by passing through the dragon nest, and at the same time escape smoothly. As for the order of the match ... there is no order, all of you, together."

The Trio look at each other, and Harry looked up to see Cedric looking at his two teammates equally meaningfully, with a bit of confidence in his heart, at least they practiced according to this kind of response when they were in the classroom seven.

He looked at Professor Hap, who had been staring at the carvings in the tent, without showing any other reaction.

"Why are we playing together? What if we get affected by other teams?" One of the Beauxbatons girls asked pointedly.

"That's one of the tests," Bagman said cautiously, "You have to learn to keep your eyes and ears open. Each dragon will be separated from each other by a certain distance, and theoretically ... you will have enough space, and you will understand when the time comes. So ... Harry ... can I have a word with you alone? Come outside?"

Harry looked at him in disbelief as they left for a moment, and then he came back with a sombre expression.

"What's going on?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, he seems to be trying to help me." Harry stated rather puzzled, "But I refused, we had prepared so ... much"

At this point, Felix is the only adult left in the tent, as the rest looked at him curiously, they thought this person would follow Bagman and leave.

"First, I would like to introduce myself, Felix Hap, Professor of Ancient Runes at Hogwarts." He said calmly, "You don't need to remember my name, just my duties - I'm one of your safety officers, of course, the last line of defense."

"While you are competing, there will be dragon keepers from the dragon sanctuary, and staff from the Ministry of Magic who will be ready to provide protection ... As for me, I will be hovering above your heads throughout the competition and will only intervene at the most dangerous time! --when you don't have time to call for help."

"Well, then, good luck to you all."

Felix walked out of the tent as the people outside buzzed with excitement.

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Felix walked through the pillars of the grandstand, Bagman's high-pitched voice is very clear even amidst the sound of the restless crowd: "Welcome ... the first task will be dragons, the champions must get the golden egg in the nest of the dragon and escape successfully... ... staff please place the dragon egg, look, the dragons are still drowsy, this is the best time to observe them ..."

Six dragons of various colours were sprawled on the ground, still unconscious by the looks of it, but their large size remained intimidating, even though the closest place is the judges' gallery which stood about 500 feet from it.

"... Next, I'll introduce the panel of judges, the five Headmasters, myself, and Minister Fudge, who is replacing my old friend Barty Crouch who has unfortunately taken an extended leave of absence ... "

Felix approached the busy Professor McGonagall, who kept walking back and forth around the edge of the venue in circles, with a distracted expression on her face, and as he walked over, McGonagall almost bumped into him without noticing him.

"Watch out, Minerva-"

"Oh! Just you, Felix." McGonagall called out dramatically, her pitch much higher than usual, "Charlie's looking for you. Charlie!" She shouted at a small group, then a short, stout male wizard turned back and jogged over in small steps.

"Hey, Felix," Charlie said, looking very tense as he constantly rubbed his hands together: "We'll be watching from the sidelines, carrying a whistle with us, and in case of danger, we'll step up - And, of course, we need your back-up. "

"No problem." Felix said.

A hiss came from the distance, as a black dragon raised her head in slow motion, and the staff member next to her put the dragon egg down and scurried away.

The Hungarian Horntail found herself in an unfamiliar environment, with a noisy swarm of tiny bugs all around her. She also smelled the scent of her own kind, and with her two yellow eyes darting around, she soon saw five other dragons laying on a platform not too far away.

Her mood abruptly worsened, and she braced herself to stand up. Underneath her is a nest built of golden hay, with an egg in it, and she exceptionally felt an intimacy with it, telling her those are her cubs - a sentiment which she quickly accepted as her movements became more careful, "clatter~" the sound of chains rang out, she froze as she looked at the thick chains on her left foot, then she let out a roar towards the sky.

A searing flame rushed into the sky, rolling up a wave of air out of nowhere, and the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere rose rapidly.

With her action, the other five dragons also woke up, and they each raised their heads, flapping their wings and stamping their feet in a fury. The black stone floor made heavy thuds.

The Hungarian Horntail glanced around, she hates being here. It would be best to take her egg and leave for good. She tentatively tugged the chain, finding it not quite solid, and just as she was about to tug harder, she saw a familiar person.

"Ow~"

She yelped audibly, that awful barbecue cook!

Felix sized her up and asked Charlie, "Do the dragons have a good memory?"

"Of course." Charlie replied, " Norbert remembers Hagrid till now, and every time he misbehaves, I will show him a picture of Hagrid, but I don't know how long I can fool ... He is getting smarter and won't let us give him inspection ..."

Bagman's voice kept leading the audience's emotions, and he is good at that.

"Look, the dragons have awakened, they need a little time to adapt ... to at least discover their egg, using this time, let me explain the rules of the contest ..."

Felix took out a broom from the ring, and flipped it over to sit on it, stomping his feet, he rushed straight up into the sky, circling the field twice, enjoying the view below.

"This is a good spot for a view." He smiled and said to himself.

Looking down from high above, the layout of the venue became clear - a silver tent for the champions to rest temporarily, a few hundred feet away from is a grandstand, and in the center of the crooked, barely oval-shaped stand, six areas divided and together resembled a daffodil flower.

In each petal near the central spot, there is a dragon crouched separately, they are large and small, as they raise their heads one after another and looked around agitatedly.

On one side of the grandstand near the silver tent, a gate has been opened, that should be where the champions would enter the venue, and on the opposite side of the gate, there is a large stand raised high up, which is the judges' gallery.

Bagman, who is introducing the rules of the game, said gleefully, "Very well, most of our safety officers have already taken their place, the one who is flying will act as the last line of security. Regarding Felix, I don't need to tell you, you should have read about him in the newspaper -"

His voice weakened, as Fudge's gloomy gaze looked over.

Bagman stammered for a while, and finally realizing what he had to do, so he stood up and shouted, "Soo... Let's welcome our champions!"

The cheers sounded deafening, and an extremely penetrating whistle rang through the air. The dragons raised their heads and looked around cautiously with restlessness, and soon, a wooden gate opened wide and the champions walked in.

"Hiss~"

Harry saw a man in front of him fall backward, he hurriedly reached out to support him, he is Beauxbatons's champion, Harry could not recall the boy's name, but he is obviously not in a good state, snot and tears flowed to the ground.

"Francois ...," whispered Fleur, "for the love of Nicolas Flamel, be brave!" She tilted her head to the side and commanded, "Jacqueline!"

The other girl shuddered and helped Francois up, though, from Harry's point of view, she too looked terrified.

He felt a hint of distaste for Francois for a moment until he saw a mist of water in Francois' eyes, and then he froze, probably because the expression on his face was too direct, which made Francois glare at him menacingly.

As a staff member lead them to an open space where the air is far hotter than outside, Harry saw how a stone in front of the blue Swedish short-nosed dragon melted into a soft flop like a liquid.

He couldn't hear any sound, but he could see the searing, lava-like liquid dripping down as if it were dripping on his heart. But it is not their trouble, then he heard the sound of Ron swallowing frantically, so he followed his line of sight and saw their target, a black colossal hill.

Only this hill can move and is full of spikes.

Harry regretted not getting a good look that night. This Hungarian Horntail looked taller than ten of him stacked on top of each other, with black scales all over its body and a lizard-like appearance. It has yellow eyes and bronze horns, and a tail with spikes that are nearly bronze.

He heard Hermione reciting hoarsely the information about this dragon: "... Hungarian Horntail is considered to be one of the most vicious and aggressive breeds of a dragon... it is also one of the dragons that can breathe fire up to 50 feet away. When protecting its young, it will be even more aggressive ... Females are generally bigger than males ..."

"I'm just glad Mom didn't come ..." said Ron bitterly when he saw Sirius, who kept waving from the audience stand.

At that moment, Charlie approached, his calm voice made Harry's heart settle down slightly, and then the dragon keepers appeared in their corresponding positions, when Charlie passed by, he patted the three of them on the shoulder, and opened his mouth several times before finally squeezing out a vague " Come on." from his throat.

The Hungarian Horntail is in front of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and it looked completely different from the model that Harry pulled out; you can only feel its horror at a close distance, and compared to this dragon, they looked like three rats.

"This is Classroom Seven, Classroom Seven ..." Ron kept hypnotizing himself.

Hermione's face turned white as paper, she tried her best to calm herself down, "There are dragon keepers and Ministry of Magic Staffs around, even if we can't believe them, we should believe Professor Hap ... he is right above our heads!"

The trio looked up at the sky, amidst the light a vague shadow could be seen above, which gave them great courage.

Bagman's passionate voice rang out again: "The champions took their positions, they are only seventy feet away from their target, which is a relatively safe distance because the dragons have chains attached to their legs."

"When you hear a whistle, you can take action; timing, strategy, effectiveness, and courage shown will all be the basis for scoring... Good luck to you all! Ready - three - two - one! The tournament begins!"

The chaotic sounds around him seemed like they were being muted, and Harry had no time to look at the others; he needed to do his duty - to be more cautious, he had to scout first. So he called out from the bottom of his heart, "Accio Firebolt!"

Waiting quietly for a while, he discerned the exact familiar sound from the surging tide of voices as a blurred shadow flew in from the direction of the castle, and he jumped up into the air as a familiar feeling of speed quieted his heart.

I belong to the sky.

Harry said to himself, as he made his way upward, increasing his speed to the maximum, and in just a few seconds he passed a figure, which is Professor Hap. He caught a hasty glimpse of the professor rolling his eyes at him.

He turned the broom handle and his eyes skimmed underneath. From seven or eight hundred feet up, the dragons looked like a Salamander that Hagrid had taught in class, and he also noticed that the whole venue looked like a daffodil flower, with a dragon crouching near the center of each petal, while the champions standing on the other end of it.

Looking down from the air, he could see that among the six groups of champions, only the group of Uagadou and Cedric started to move. The unassuming male wizard, whose name Harry couldn't remember, other than the fact that he wore a spiky hawk-shaped hairstyle, suddenly rolled on the ground and transformed into an imposing green eagle, which flapped its wings and shot up into the sky, flying bravely toward the beautiful Antipodean Opaleye.

A gasp echoed through the grandstand, as they got stunned by the actions of Uagadou's student. "Animagus!" Someone shouted.

"Not Animagus!" Bagman's voice reached everyone's ears, "That's Uagadou's unique human transfiguration, and as far as I know, all three champions can do it!"

"Keyeww~"

The large eagle's bronze feathers glowed in the sunlight, and the Antipodean Opaleye perceived the threat, as her shining, colourful eyes without pupils stared intently at it as she opened her mouth to spew out a fan-shaped ball of bright red flame.

The green eagle nimbly dodged while screeching provocatively.

On the other hand, Cedric raised his wand, a cloud of hazy fog convergence, the scope getting wider and wider, darker and darker, and eventually forming a dark-coloured rain cloud, which rose hundreds of feet high.

The rain pattered down and doused the sparks that came out of the Blue Swedish short-nosed dragon's nose. Which irritated her, so she tilted her head and spewed out blue flames, her flames were so hot that even rocks could be melted, but she is only about twenty-three or twenty-four feet in size, plus her flames couldn't reach the rain clouds overhead.

The rain is not a big deal, but it is getting heavier and heavier, making it uncomfortable, and the Swedish short-nosed dragon grumpily wanted to move with her egg, so she tugged the chains on her feet and rattled them.

Collins Foley did not know when she had disappeared, Harry grinned, he already had known that Cedric had chosen the most appropriate strategy.

Harry swooped downward, glancing at Fleur's group as they seemed to be in trouble, except for Fleur, the other two champions were stalling.

Bagman's narrative appeared at the right time: "Beauxbatons's champions seem to be contradicting with each other, which they really shouldn't be doing now ... Look at Durmstrang's side, they're casting dark magic from afar, but it does nothing except making the dragon more irritable... ... Oh no, look at Krum, he's cast some magic to reduce his presence, and he's moving closer, is he trying to grab the dragon egg just by using his legs? He should have been sitting on his broom, Durmstrang didn't use their best advantage in their strategy!"

At the judges' booth, Karkaroff's expression looked vexed, "What's he doing? He's bothering Krum."

The Headmistress of Uagadou, the slim, lean witch who was seated next to him grinned, and Karkaroff looked at her angrily, "What's so funny, your other two students are watching dryly from the sidelines!"

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The Uagadou's Headmistress sat next to Madame Maxime, which formed a stark contrast, as if Madame Maxime had placed her doll next to her. The witch's voice sounded hoarse as she said, "The last thing my students lack is courage, and the reason they didn't move is that they got more important things to do."

"Is she adding protective magic on her companion? The African way of hand gesticulations for casting spells, truly unique, like an art..." said Dumbledore with a smile as he twirled his beard.

They all looked together at the corner of the venue.

The leopard-tight skin-dressed witch quickly waved her arm, stirring the air, chanting under her breath, as a coloured line appeared in the air, like a rope it looped around the Uagadou champions, she grinned with a painful expression on her face, and her body froze.

The most momentous one is the Ilvermorny team. The wands of the three champions made some kind of whistle sound, as they sent out powerful spells, red and black flames combined with swirling whirlwinds, forming spectacular compound magic.

The powerful wind even affected the Durmstrang's champions on the side; Krum, who had been hiding and constantly approaching the dragon, got forced to show himself, so he retreated quickly with a grim face. The Chinese Fireball Dragon had already noticed him approaching, so she kept an even closer eye on the dragon egg in the nest.

"Why are you guys doing this!" One of Durmstrang's champions shouted towards the side.

"It's allowed by the rules, one of the difficulties for the champions comes from other champions, you should know that!" Victor Graves said coldly, as he and his companion struggled to control the black whirlwind, from which flew what looked like shattered ribbons of flame, which drifted far into the area of other dragons.

Durmstrang's champion gritted his teeth and wanted to give him a curse, but it is not allowed by the rules.

Harry, who had been circling the Hungarian Horntail, jerked up his broom and dodged a beautiful but dangerous black blaze of flame, and one corner of his robe turned to dust as he broke out with a cold sweat.

He also realized the danger, the crisis on the field, he was nearly hit by a bit of a frenzied Antipodean Opaleye flame before, even the sky, shared between him and Uagadou's Green Eagle, became more dangerous.

He sort of forced to make room for the green eagle to tangle with the Antipodean Opaleye. While he moved closer to Beauxbatons direction, where only Fleur remained closer to the dragon, as she stood about forty feet away from it, it looked like she is casting a complex Bewitched Sleep. The dragon looked drowsy, but now and then, a few black flames flew over from the Ilvermorny venue and splashed on the Common Welsh Green Dragon, although it didn't do much, it was enough to wake it up.

Fleur looked at these flames with annoyance, the other two Beauxbatons champions were so out of it to help her out of trouble.

Harry looked at the whole situation from high above and got a clear idea in his mind. If he wanted to end the game without any interference, he had to do it quickly, so he descended and spoke his mind to Ron and Hermione.

The two have not been idle during this time, they erected a high earth wall, with a deep pit dug, which looked like a rudimentary defense site. Occasionally, Bagman would look in their direction. But probably there was nothing to say, so he quickly turned his head again.

"The battlefield is somewhat intense, even though only two minutes had passed now ... But according to the situation, if they didn't achieve results in half an hour, it would be difficult after that ... Oh, look, Hogwarts' champions and Uagadou's champions are making new moves! Could it be that they are going to cooperate? Oh my God!"

He shouted out in shock, and everyone's eyes were drawn to it.

At this moment, on Cedric's side, the Blue Swedish Short-Snout Dragon endured the rain clouds overhead to her limit, and even more excessively, a thick circle of fog enveloped the area, together with the thick curtain of rain, made the dragon's vision blurred.

Irritated she lowered her head, and blue flames sprayed on the chains on her feet, causing the chains to become hot, and after half a minute, the chains finally couldn't stand the heat, so when she pulled hard it broke free.

The Swedish Short-Snout is now free!

Excitedly, she flapped her wings and shot straight up into the sky, stirring up the annoying rain clouds. The Swedish Short-Snout Dragon glimpsed briefly at a wizard on a broomstick and a big green eagle, but she just glanced scornfully at the huge Hungarian Horntail and didn't go over, as she just spewed flames over the cloud.

Then she turned around and swooped through the fog, the annoying wizard is gone from her sight, and there is a goat in that place, and she happened to be a little hungry. The Swedish Short-Snout Dragon glanced at her dragon's nest, feeling a bit threatened; She then flew to the nest and grabbed the egg with her hind legs, intending to place them in a safe place before going to catch the goat. But just as it flew up from the ground, she heard someone chant an incantation and a patch of blackthorns appeared abruptly from a dozen feet away and flew towards her.

Her dragon eyes widened, and in the blink of an eye, these blackthorns crawled up her paws and onto her blue scales, wings, and neck. She struggled and fluttered her wings as the blackthorns splintered like cookies, but more blackthorns kept rising up.

The hateful wizard who had disappeared earlier reappeared and chanted a spell at her.

"Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy!" Cedric shouted.

With the blackthorns that Roger Davies had spawned with Herbivicus Charm, the Swedish Short-Snout Dragon became temporarily immobilized in midair, so he could recklessly chanted the spell, as a red light struck its unprotected abdomen area.

The Swedish Short-Snout Dragon felt drowsy, flapping her wings randomly, struggling by instinct, unknowingly already close to the vicinity of Uagadou's area. At this time, out of nowhere, a bright silver tail with a multicoloured glow flew out and slapped her head directly.

Now, she finally couldn't hold on and fell from midair, hitting the ground hard and lifting a cloud of dust.

But she is still conscious. Carefully clutching the egg on her left foot, then she turned her neck and spewed the blue flames in the direction of Cedric and Roger Davies, who had to move away from her.

At that time, the Swedish Short-Snout Dragon felt her left foot being nipped by a mosquito, which she didn't care about as she just spewed flames bitingly. Then a numbness arose, she halted, bewildered to see her claws somehow loosened, as her Egg rolled to the side.

Did she run out of strength? She thought in wonder, but she immediately opened her mouth wide, not to spew out flames, but in utter astonishment.

Her little one ... actually grew legs and ran further and further away?

Collins Foley in the state of Disillusionment Charm had waited for her chance, she had always been good at casting Nonverbal spells, and during this time, she had repeatedly practiced the Disillusionment Charm and the Summoning Charm just for this opportunity.

God knows how she felt when the Swedish Short-Snout Dragon grabbed the egg, but she trusted her companion and followed the plan to hide until the dragon was locked by Roger Davies' Blackthorn, and she used the Nonverbal "Relashio" spell a dozen times before the dragon let go of her claws.

She held the dragon egg and with her each step her heart thumped, and that sound seemed to resonate with her whole being. She finally escaped from the most dangerous place. Then, when she turned around, she saw Cedric and Roger Davies chanting a stunning spell against the Swedish Short-Snout Dragon.

She threw the dragon egg far away and trotted back, and when she touched her body, she found that her wand is missing, crap, she must have dropped it just now. The venue is too chaotic, and dusty, she looked left and right as she found a gray stick that looked like an Uagadou student's wand, she bent down to pick it up and smashed it hard against the back of the dragon's head.

"Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang!"

Not sure how long it took, but Roger Davies stopped her, "Stop hitting it! Hit it again, it'll wake up." Collins froze, only to find that the Swedish Short-Snout Dragon had passed out.

She sat down on the floor with a plop.

Bagman's voice shouted excitedly, "Look, the first successful team appeared, they not only got the dragon egg but also knocked out the dragon, extra points, we must give them some extra points!"

The thunderous applause and cheers arose from the grandstand, with deafening shouts and screams.

"Where did you get that stick in your hand, you applied a transfiguration spell on your own wand? Why does it look so familiar?" Roger Davies wondered.

Collins stared at him blankly and pointed in the direction of the Uagadou team smoothly.

Roger and Cedric inclined their heads, and their expressions also became dumbstruck. Beside the Antipodean Opaleye, a huge African elephant appeared at some point, which is only ten feet tall, less than half the length of the dragon, but with the help of his teammates, he still seized the opportunity to stomp the dragon under his feet and kept trampling as if he had gone crazy.

"Oh my God!" Roger Davies said in disbelief.

"Yeah, the dragon is going to go wild ..." Cedric said.

--

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Cedric's hunch is right, the Antipodean Opaleye is relatively gentle by nature, but with a green eagle constantly provoking her first, and then a leopard after that, she couldn't stand it no matter how good-tempered she is.

But before she could do anything, a burly wizard ran up to her feet, though he is not small, it still depends on who he is compared to.

She stuck out her claw to crush him, but he morphed right in front of her eyes, turning into an African elephant that is half her size, and then accelerated rapidly towards her. A long tusk struck against her scales, and the tremendous amount of momentum knocked her slightly out of position, and the next thing she knew there was a sharp pain in the joint of her wings--

That thing stepped on ME!

The Antipodean Opaleye slumped down as the elephant added more force, first by furiously stomping on the dragon's head, snuffing out the flames that were still brewing, and then jumping onto the vulnerable wing and trampling it repeatedly.

Dragon Egg? She is no longer concerned with the dragon egg, the great her now wants to tear apart this large elephant that appeared out of nowhere, with one bite at a time.

"Eliphandy! It's time to withdraw!"

The female warrior from Uagadou shouted, reverting from her leopard form to human form and holding the dragon egg in her arms, but Eliphandy got trapped, one of the dragon's claws gripping his elephant leg with a death grip, the magic glow on the elephant leg kept flickering and then quickly became dim, the previous protection magic is rapidly weakening.

The green eagle in the sky swooped down and saw in his sight that the broomstick-riding wizard who had been cooperating with the burning Fire Phoenix suddenly disappeared, he didn't think much of it, as he reverted to his human form and cast a quick spell in the moment of falling -

Conjunctivitis Curse! It is the same strategy as Krum's, only his action is riskier.

There were gasps from the grandstand, and it looked like he is about to fall to the ground -

But at the last moment, he quickly morphed in the air, wings flapping, brushing against the surface and pulling his body up, twisting his head in an arc in midair to observe the results of the battle.

The effect was minimal!

Opaleye howled in pain, flames spewed out indiscriminately, and Cedric's group went far away to avoid it, happily leaving the venue with the dragon egg.

Uagadou's other side, Harry, Ron, and Hermione relied on the speed of the firebolt, illumination's blindness, and the golden fire bird's undaunted sacrificial attack to annoy the Hungarian Horntail, which made her take a few steps forward, with one foot out of the dragon's nest.

Harry seized this opportunity, as he directly used the Apparition - this is already inside the forbidden forest, not influenced by the school - his figure suddenly appeared at the Hungarian Horntail's feet, as soon as he grabbed the dragon's egg, his feet stomped on the ground to fly away with the help of the broom.

But a spiky tail swept over, Harry gritted his teeth, holding a firebolt in one hand, and the egg in the other hand, he used the Apparition again. When he reappeared, he was already standing next to Ron and Hermione.

Ron struggled to control the pillar of light in his hand to blind the Hungarian Horntail's eyes, Hermione's face is drenched in sweat, and her eyes could barely stay open, "Let's get out of here!" Harry shouted, he noticed his shoulder scraped with a bloody gash, he could not remember whether this was the result of the sharp spikes on the tail of the Hungarian Horntail or the Apparition Splinching, but he just kept urging them to move forward.

The trio kept stumbling forward, but a blue flame came from the diagonal, Ron lunged forward, and they dove into a deep pit, watching the blue flame sweeping overhead with palpitations, "Th-at was closee." Ron said.

Waiting quietly for a moment, Harry tried to lift his head to look. "Don't!" Ron stopped him, "The dragon up there is crazy, we can leave through the ground!" So they began to chant a Gouging Spell to dig a hole through the ground. The trio was not slow, so they soon dug out a tunnel.

"Almost there." Ron gauged.

They raised their wands upwards, and the ground broke open with a large hole, and when they looked up, they saw Dumbledore's smiling face peering from the judges' gallery.

Harry climbed out somewhat sardonically, grimacing and feeling a bit humiliated; they are probably the first champions who dug a tunnel, right?

"You have done well." Dumbledore said, " being the second to succeed."

"But Uagadou ..."

"Ah, they ran into a bit of trouble." Dumbledore said.

At the venue, Uagadou's champions did run into trouble, that transfigured African elephant is firmly grasped by the Opaleye, what's even scarier is that she has broken free from the spell's effect and focused her head on her prey.

The other two champions are totally helpless, they waved their hands and recited a spell, but the Dragon just swayed her head, and the spell hit her circular scales, similar to a mosquito bite, without much effect.

The Antipodean Opaleye opened her mouth and the flames gathered into a great mass, this time the flames in her mouth became even more vivid in colour, and they seemed to have heard the sound of magma flowing -

"Thumb!" A blazing red light came down from the sky and hit Opaleye squarely in the head.

"It is the safety officer who stepped in and judged that Uagadou's champion was in a death threat - he stopped the dragon, which will likely impact their score - Uagadou was the second team to get the dragon's egg after Hogwarts! But this blunder might affect their ranking!" Bagman explained loudly.

Other staff on the scene quickly approach, the red light dissipated, the Antipodean Opaleye has fainted, and with that, the elephant went back to its human form. A lot of skin on his body is burned, looking very frightening.

"Beware, in addition to the flames, the strength of the dragon is also incredibly great, few magical creatures can rival it." Bagman said as an afterthought.

"That's very nice to hear." Near the grandstand, Ron grunted in dissatisfaction.

There are still three teams left at the venue, Beauxbatons, Ilvermorny, and Durmstrang. After a few minutes, the situation became clear -

Beauxbatons's three champions, Fleur is obviously their main force, their strategy is to rely on her magic to hypnotize the green dragon, then one will protect, and the other will quietly get the dragon egg. But the problem is that these three teams are close to each other, so the other two are affected by the Ilvermorny team in the middle.

Durmstrang's situation is a little better at this point, Krum seized the opportunity to hit the dragon's eyes twice in a row, making it completely crazy. However, the problem they encountered was how to retrieve the shattered pieces of the dragon's Egg from under the feet of the frenzied dragon.

They weren't sure if they should continue, the task was to bring back the egg and escape from the dragon without any problems. And now that the egg was broken, they felt they had to get at least one or two of the larger pieces back.

But in addition to dodging the frenzied dragon, they had to watch out for the black whirlwind of flames that kept expanding more and more - magic that the Ilvermorny's champions no longer seemed to be able to control, nevertheless they kept the magic running strong.

"Byers, don't stop me!" Victor Graves shouted laboriously, "If you can't get the dragon egg, then let's stop others from getting it."

Byers turned red and didn't say anything, just silently fought with Graves for control of the magic.

The biggest problem for the Ilvermorny was that they lacked a way to get close to the dragon, and at the same time, their magic is not powerful enough to completely defeat the Hebridean Black dragon. The black dragon could also see this, so she just breathed out flames from afar, and looked at them with a pair of bright purple eyes.

Every now and then, she showed off her spine by displaying a row of not deep but razor-sharp ridges, which, of course, implies warning in the wild.

The whirlwind laced with the black dragon's flame became more difficult to control, and at this point, they were already riding the tiger.

Originally, they wanted to use the Might of powerful magic to scare the enemy, who knew that the enemy would simply not care about it. Graves was forced to come up with a crooked idea, which was to interfere with the other teams.

The three teams that were directly across him, which he could not reach, so he could only deal with the two close-by teams, so Beauxbatons and Durmstrang suffered from bad luck.

Karkaroff and Madame Maxime anxiously jumped to their feet and stared at the Headmaster of Ilvermorny, who had a serious face, a face that remained fixed for a full ten minutes, until Ilvermorny's team completely lost control of their magic and a black rain of flame fell from the sky.

The Dragon Keepers and the staff of the Ministry of Magic stepped forward to protect them, but Durmstrang and the champions of Beauxbatons declined their help, and Fleur barely managed to extinguish the flames on her body and seized the opportunity to cast hypnotic magic again.

And at that moment, Durmstrang's Krum also finally took advantage of the chaos to grab the two pieces of dragon eggs and stumbled out.

Only Beauxbatons's champions were left on the scene.

The other dragons who had lost their eggs roared, making the venue even noisier. After several attempts, the Welsh Green's eyelids drooped off but did not fall completely asleep, and if she had encountered this situation in the past, she would have continued to try.

But now only their team is left in the whole venue, as the captain of the team, her heart is burning with urgency. She winked toward her other two team members, but they were originally afraid of the dragon, so how would they dare to step forward when they saw Welsh green dragon sneezing loudly and spewing out a narrow flame.

With no choice, Fleur had to go on her own, she approached carefully, as the Hebridean Black and the Hungarian Horntail on either side tilted their heads to look at her; watching this everyone else broke out in a cold sweat for Fleur.

The grandstand fell into a dreadful silence, and Harry couldn't help but admire the witch's courage, even though she usually seemed rather proud and called him a little boy ...

Felix hovered down from the high altitude, and when the Hungarian Horntail which had been interested in Fleur noticed him, she lowered her head to the ground and behaved herself. Felix scratched his head, wondering if it counted as interfering with the competition ... but he didn't anticipate this situation either, with only one team left, it made sense for him to focus on this side.

Finally, Fleur got the dragon's egg and hurried back, the effects of the magic fading quickly as the Welsh green dragon sneezed loudly, eyes half-open, a small cluster of fire staining her clothes as she quickly recited the Extinguishing Spell.

On the way back, a wall of fire blocked her way, it is the Hebridean Black Dragon. The wisdom of this dragon is not that low, she merely stopped Fleur, and the Welsh green dragon finally got rid of the spell, and staring at Fleur with her huge eyes, the flame in her mouth is ready to be fired.

Fleur threw the dragon egg out, "Take it and take it away!" She shouted while holding up the shield charm.

The magical barrier melted like ice, she smelled the scorching smell of her hair, then a cold breath spread throughout her body, she saw a blood-red shield in front of her, looking up, Felix calmly extended his wand.

The dragon keepers stepped forward together, and chanted the Extinguishing Spell in unison, as the flames burning on the venue quickly extinguished.

"Well, the last team has finished the game! Although it is a pity, there is no doubt that they got the dragon egg, and this champion's dedication might offset the minus point from the safety officer's intervention ... She looks a little injured, please send the staff to take her to the tent to receive treatment, and the judges need to discuss a little before scoring."

--

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Harry, Ron, and Hermione stayed behind to watch the match, which was still the result of their begging because Professor McGonagall kept urging them to go to the makeshift tent to receive treatment.

"I'm fine, Professor McGonagall." Harry said, at this point he took the Essence of Dittany from Hermione's hand and applied it to his wound, the bleeding quickly stopped.

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and stared at him for a few moments, and while she did so, Harry hurriedly lowered his head and chanted a healing spell on himself - one of the spells he had learned, as Professor Hap hinted that some basic spells would be used as promotion criteria in their new school year - and he felt an itch in his wound, and he couldn't resist reaching out to touch it; that when Professor McGonagall's stern gaze glanced over again, so he had to put his hand down, while Ron laughed out loud from the sidelines.

"Well, after watching the competition, you ... have to go to Madam Pomfrey's for an examination, OK?" Professor McGonagall said, glancing at Ron and Hermione, who didn't look half hurt except for the dirty, dusty look on their bodies and faces.

Harry reassured her again and again before Professor McGonagall left, at that point, Harry noticed his wounds had tightened up.

"I've never noticed such a useful spell." Harry said in amazement.

"Oh, this spell can only treat some small wounds, and if you are planning to become a healer, you would realize that there are so many things to learn." Hermione said as she tucked the vial with the Essence of Dittany into her pocket.

"Who in their right mind would want to become a healer?" Ron muttered, then he noticed both Harry and Hermione looking at him: "I mean, you have to deal with a lot of weird cases every day ... I should have told you guys that Bill had a pen pal from Brazil when he was in school, and because he couldn't afford to pay for a visit, the pen pal sent him a hat with a curse on it ... Anyway, his ears wrinkled more than a house-elf and Mom had to take him on a trip to the hospital ... I was five or six at the time, St. Mungo's made a big impression on me that time, which I still remember."

He frowned, a look of disgust heaped on his face.

"I remember the wizard. ... The man with an extra arm on his chest, the witch who thought she was a kangaroo and could only jump - how strange, there are no kangaroos in England! I also remember an unlucky man whose chest was pierced by some sort of creature, the wound kept bleeding, and when the healer cleaned him, the smell was awful uhh ..."

Harry and Hermione who listened felt some psychological discomfort.

When the competition ended, Professor McGonagall's imposing gaze immediately looked over, without waiting for the three to react, she appeared next to them as if she had used an Apparition, and immediately walked them to the temporary tent quietly.

"Potter," Harry turned his head as he heard Professor McGonagall addressing them, "Granger and Weasley, ... you guys did a great job!" She pursed her lips and said in a surprisingly gentle tone, "Go to the tent, Madam Pomfrey is waiting for you ... maybe you can get back in time before the judge scoring."

As they passed the grandstand, the crowd called out their names enthusiastically, and a huge arm dangled from the stand, and it was Hagrid, who said excitedly, "You did it! Excellent, you faced the most ferocious Hungarian Horntail--"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione's faces blossomed with a smile, and they took turns to high-five Hagrid, then Ron said as he felt like he was floating, "Oh ... it wasn't really that hard ..."

At the makeshift wooden gate, Sirius excitedly swooped them up and gave them a hug.

"You guys are the best team I've ever seen!"

...

Meanwhile, a heated discussion is going on in the judges' gallery on the high platform, as the seven judges exchange opinions on the performance of the six teams.

"Isn't the Swedish Short-Snout Dragon a little too weak?" Karkaroff questioned.

"Not at all-" Bagman countered, "You saw it! Its flames melted the special chains made by the dragon sanctuary, and it has to be the strongest of all dragons ... Felix, you're the safety officer and the one who has the best view from high up, so tell them!"

He asked Felix, as the last line of defense, although Felix does not have the power to score, but he got invited over, in the name of "providing details that others can not see."

"Actually, except for the Hungarian Horntail, the other five dragons are pretty much equal," Felix said, scratching his chin, "If you insist on comparing them, the Swedish Short-Snout Dragon is considered more superior, at least its flame is extremely hot... ... From what I've seen, everyone on the team has done their respective tasks brilliantly."

"Cedric Diggory's weather magic made the dragon violent and irrational, as evident by the fact that it later broke free and chose to scatter the rain clouds first instead of attacking the champions... Roger Davies also launched his trap with great timing, and disillusionment charm isn't his best forte, so in order to avoid being discovered, he didn't move much in the early stages, but his role in the team was crucial-"

Felix smiled and said, "He belonged to the rescue and backup role."

"If the Dragon went berserk and attacked Diggory, Davies had to step in decisively to restrain it, and he deserves credit for what he has done in that sticky situation, where he spawned the Blackthorn ... with a brilliant Herbivicus Charm just as the Dragon flew off the ground ... As for Collins Foley, she didn't make many moves, but you should be able to see the patience, courage, and trust she showed in her teammates throughout the competition, as she crouched under the feet of that Swedish Short-Snout Dragon for at least two minutes, and a slight accident in the middle would probably have prevented her from escaping."

None of the judges in the room lacked eyesight, and Felix was just putting the facts out there.

They quickly finished their discussion and prepared to score, when Felix suddenly spoke up, "The purpose of the competition is to select the best young wizards from different schools, by allowing them to compete on the same stage, participate in the trials, with the hope that they will show the courage that wizards respect in difficult tasks... Judges, I suggest that When giving specific scores, it would be best for the judges to comment on a few things, and let the champions be aware of their strengths and weaknesses ..."

The judges looked at each other blankly.

"Wouldn't it be too much of a drag?" Bagman said with some bewilderment, "We have had no plans for this process ... However, it is not impossible ..."

"As a Headmaster, I certainly want to see the champions to gain something during this year." Dumbledore said with a smile.

Fudge looked at the other judges with a hesitant expression, "What do you think?"

" It's a good idea." Madame Maxime stated as she didn't find anything wrong with it, instead, she found it very encouraging.

"I also acknowledge this proposal. Uagadou's students should know their shortcomings to not make the same mistakes a second time." The Headmistress of Uagadou, the slim, lean witch stated, sitting cross-legged on a flying carpet as if she had stepped out of a comic book.

In fact, the British Ministry of Magic had banned the creation and sale of flying carpets, but she merely used it herself and is a foreigner, so Fudge pretended not to see it.

"Your remarks are wise, Ms. Nagy." Felix slightly bowed.

One by one, judges agreed, and they retook their seats at the judges' table, ready to score. Felix left the high platform as he smiled at Karkaroff - who didn't look that happy.

"Ahem! Silence-" Bagman said loudly as the crowd in the grandstand gradually quieted down, "Next up is the judges' scoring, and in order for the champions to know more than just a score bestowed upon them, each judge will give some impartial comments."

"Please allow me to recap the entire competition first. As a matter of fact, many of you may not have had a chance to get a glimpse of the whole tournament, after all, there were too many exciting images for your eyes to take in ... Now I will mention the team in the order they obtained the dragon egg."

"The first team that I would like to mention is the champions from Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory, Roger Davies, and Collins Foley, who picked up the Dragon Egg in the shortest possible time and defeated the Dragon without suffering any injuries.

The second team that got the dragon egg was the Uagadou's champions, Nona Leibert brought out the dragon egg with a wonderful leopard transfiguration, but of course, their strategy was a bit aggressive, which leads a team member to get trapped by the dragon, resulting in the safety officer interfering in the competition, which might be a minus point. Nevertheless, they still showed us a great game.

The third team that got the dragon egg, also from Hogwarts, is the youngest, still in the fourth year, but they performed very well, they are the only two teams that got the dragon egg as well as successfully got away from the dragon.

The fourth team to get the dragon egg was Durmstrang, although they only managed to grab a few pieces.

the fifth team to get the dragon egg was Beauxbatons, Miss Delacour was so courageous that she threw the Dragon Egg to her teammates at the most critical moment, but got into trouble herself and had to use the safety officer's protection.

The last team is Ilvermorny, uh, they didn't get the dragon egg, but it's a matter of tactics, and their compound magic is still very eye-catching ..."

Bagman gave a general overview of the six teams' performance, allowing the audience to replay it in their minds as they talked about it. At this time, the champions from the background came back one by one, and after waiting for a while, he said in a loud voice, "So, please let's request the judges to score the first team!"

Harry squinted at the judges' gallery, and the first judge, Madame Maxime, raised her wand, and a long ribbon-like strand emerged from the tip, twisting to form a number "10".

Madame Maxime commented, "This Hogwarts team fully demonstrated the qualities that champions must have - courage, wisdom, loyalty, trust - and for this trial, their performance was impeccable, so I give them ten points."

Her fair statement earned her a round of applause.

"Maybe they'll get a perfect score." Ron clapped his hands and said as the sixth judge also gave a ten, "I hope we're not too far behind, by all accounts, we didn't do that badly, did we?"

Harry nodded vigorously while looking at the last judge, as Karkaroff slowly raised his wand and a silver ribbon twisted to form the number "7".

Everyone in the audience looked a little confused and couldn't believe their eyes. They were all ready to welcome the first team with a perfect score, but now it all turned out to be a shame, the number seven is so blinding.

"Karkaroff ..." on the high platform, Bagman looked at him hesitantly.

Karkaroff said in his characteristic mellow, greasy voice: " What you see as courage, I see as recklessness, there was no need for them to knock out that dragon, it would have been a potential danger ..."

But before he could finish his sentence, someone in the crowd shouted, "Bollocks!" Seamus was the one who shouted, Karkaroff's icy gaze glanced over, but Seamus bravely met his eyes and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Everyone understood what was going on, that was the best option at the time!"

A chorus of approving voices echoed to his point.

"I stand by my opinion." Karkaroff said.

"Well," Bagman grunted twice, "each judge has the right to score independently ... This gives Hogwarts a total of 67 points for this team, which temporarily ranks them as first, and I believe the latter will have a hard time catching up, but it's not certain ... let's continue ..."

...

Ultimately, Harry and his team got 61 points and ranked second - Ludo Bagman enthusiastically praised the youngest champions and gave full marks without mincing words. Uagadou's Champions got 53 points and ranked third; Durmstrang got 50 points and ranked fourth; Beauxbatons got 48 points and ranked fifth, and finally, Ilvermorny got 23 points.

What has become more controversial is the ranking of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, as no one expected that while a group of judges gave six or seven points, Karkaroff shamelessly raised ten points, which drew an uproar.

You know, although Bagman gave Harry's team a 10 points, but it was also under the circumstances where a group of nine points was given as a base, although it was abrupt, but it was not a big problem, it only showed that Bagman especially favoured the young and controversial champions, while what Karkaroff did was blatant cheating.

After the scoring was over, the champions and judges regrouped in the makeshift tent and waited to receive information about the second trial. Felix prepared to leave when Bagman enthusiastically stopped him, "Don't rush off, Felix, there's something I want to discuss with you ..."

Outside, the sound of passing footsteps and discussions continued as Harry sat on the side, dazed with boredom - after escaping from the feet of the dragon, he now felt all lazy.

"... that eccentric old bat, he gave his school champions ten points, ten points! Ha, shouldn't a broken dragon egg require a deduction?"

"If I were him, I would be too ashamed to see anyone!"

The sound of heated conversation boomed from outside, and Harry looked up, blinking twice as he recognized the two voices as Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas. He wondered if his two roommates were deliberately snarky since Karkaroff had only given their team a six.

In the tent, Karkaroff's face turned blue, but he held back from saying a word as a bunch of strange stares were directed at him.

Felix smacked his lips: "Although it's normal for the headmaster to favour his champions, it's still rare for 'favouritism' to reach this level ... Maybe the scoring rules should be made more transparent."

"We will seriously consider it." Bagman immediately said cooperatively.

Ten minutes later, the sound of footsteps outside became sparse, and the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, stood up and rubbed his stomach, the jewelled ring on his thick fingers shining brightly. As he said enthusiastically, "I would like to congratulate all the champions for passing the first trial, I noticed that some teams did not do well, but there are still some more opportunities to do so later ... I will introduce the second trial, originally it was intended for Barty to be here, but he took a long leave, probably because he was too tired from working on two big successive projects, so I have to postpone the meeting with the Austrian Minister of Magic ..."

No one showed much interest in his boring work log, but he still spoke for the full ten minutes, from the Austrian Minister of Magic's bizarre oral fetish to the head of the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers's crucible teapot - he seemed to be trying to add a little humour in his speech, but apparently failed to do so.

"Kingsley!" He shouted.

A tall, dark-skinned man came in from outside the tent, holding two golden eggs, one in each hand.

"The second trial will be held on the morning of February 24 of the coming year, so you can rest for a while till then." Fudge said, "The golden eggs you are holding are the clues to the second trial, see the crack? They can be opened, you need to decode the message that was left inside, and to be honest, I'm not sure whether I'll be here when the second trial takes place, maybe by then Barty will be recuperated, but I might come over to get together, and feel younger with the best group of international wizards ... "

He waved his hand, and Kingsley controlled the two golden eggs as they flew toward the Durmstrang and Ilvermorny's Champions.

When Krum and Byers received the golden egg, both of them had a somewhat ashamed expression. Among the six teams, they were the only ones who failed to get their intact dragon egg.

"Ludo, I'll leave the rest to you." Fudge said to Bagman, who nodded toward the crowd, "Sorry, there's too much going on in the ministry, I'll go first."

When everyone else had left, Ludo Bagman finally had time to speak with Felix alone, then he pulled over a chair and sat down next to Felix's single couch.

"There are two things that concern you." He said impatiently, "The first matter involves unique magic of yours, and I would like to inquire about its effects, which may be used in a second trail ... The second matter is about your 'Future World' company. "

Felix froze and looked at him with probing eyes, "Have you approached Remus? He's in charge of the company now."

"Approached," Bagman's face looked a bit saddened: "But he said he couldn't decide it, so I had to come and request you ..."

"Do you want me to donate a sum of money?"

"Oh, no, of course not, I heard that Remus is organizing people to develop projection technology? As you know, Barty took a leave of absence, and now the burden is totally on me, so I have to do some brave innovations in order to make the tournament more enjoyable. That's part of the valor, don't you think?"

Felix thought quickly.

He knew about the projection technology, and he was the one who had scheduled it, drawing inspiration from the Omnioculars that had been used in the Quidditch World Cup, a gadget that utilized a very interesting kind of magic to temporarily store images.

Felix's requirement for the Future World research team is to imitate the function of television and make something similar. He mentioned some concepts of signal towers and transmitters, moreover, there is a magic radio for reference, the progress is not slow, but exactly how far that has reached, he did not have time to ask those detailed questions.

"Don't be in a hurry to refuse," Bagman looked at Felix in deep thought, couldn't help but say: "It will be an excellent advertisement, and the Ministry promised to pay a rent, of course ...it's not possible to buy it out, the Budget I control is limited."

"If it's a normal business deal, I can't think of a reason why Remus would refuse." Felix said slowly.

"Ahem, he thought I was a loudmouth, so he was trying to keep the progress of the research a secret ..." Bagman looked away awkwardly.

"Well, I'll ask for you."

"So the first thing is ..." Bagman explained in detail.

After a moment of consideration -

"I think this is the kind of competition that would be entertaining enough for me." Felix said with his arms clasped as his eyes lit up.

--

Note:

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Felix walked out of the makeshift tent, gazing through the crude pillars of the grandstand, and from a distance, he spotted several moving figures, among them Hagrid's gruff voice is well recognizable.

He walked over and watched as the big, burly Hagrid holding a bundle of tangled chains, which fell with a "thud" in the vacant space next to the blue Swedish Short-Snout Dragon; then Charlie raised his wand and the chains rose up like a snake as it swam next to the dragon - which is still unconscious, snorting two sparks from her nostrils from time to time - "click!" and the chain latched onto her ankle.

"There," Charlie wiped his sweat, "Hagrid, you'd better step back ..."

"But... She's just sleeping soundly." Hagrid said, stroking the spikes on the Swedish Short-Snout Dragon's head with a look of infatuation.

"Felix," Charlie greeted as he walked over, looking at Hagrid with some helplessness on his face, "If she's hunting in her dream ... then it won't be pleasant to deal with her."

Felix looked around, a few conscious dragons growled lightly, there are still a lot of staff left in the venue, after they took off their fireproof helmets, there are quite a few familiar faces here.

"When are you guys planning to leave? There should be a celebration in the evening."

Charlie looked up and pondered seriously, "Will be staying tonight, not because of the celebration ... it's a task that Mum assigned, she told me to make sure I talk to Ron and the guys to confirm nothing is wrong with their young minds."

"Mrs. Weasley is worried?"

"Ah, how can I put it, she's flustered as it is ..." he mimicked his mother's anxious voice: "How can they compete in a tournament of champions? They are all too young! Little Ronnie even got bitten by a gnome when he was cleaning the garden and cried like a baby ..."

The next second, his face became serious, as he said solemnly: "We are afraid to tell her the truth, fortunately, there is not much description in the newspaper, she flipped through the newspaper without seeing much useful information, and then found a lot of gossips - Dad was happy that her attention was diverted, and she discussed Whether Krum had secretly changed his age ... as a joke."

Felix laughed silently as Mrs. Weasley's chattering, and worried face already appeared in his mind.

"Looks like she doesn't know about the dragon part."

He approached the black Hungarian Horntail, which slumped down somewhat comically, dangling her huge, hideous head without showing the arrogance of her race, even her yellow eyes had become much softer.

"Don't shoot your breath at me." Felix muttered, patting the spikes on her head, "I didn't realize you are a female dragon. Didn't you recognize that it wasn't your actual egg you were protecting before?"

The Hungarian Horntail wheezed twice, her breath curling up the dust on the ground as she looked around at the staff with displeasure.

"Oh, it seems they not only snatched your egg but also used a Confundus Charm on you, how awful ..." he said as he moved closer to the Hungarian Horntail's neck and observed one of the dark, shiny scales.

He had transferred the Ministry of Magic's confidentiality contract upon it, and now that the competition was over, the effect of the contract had disappeared.

"We didn't rob her of her egg." Charlie said, and from his angle, he could only see half of Felix's body, as if he had been eaten by the dragon in one bite, so he couldn't help but smack his lips, "Tch! What a great relationship."

"Going to the castle?" Before leaving, Felix asked.

"When I'm done, I'm going to stop by the Owlery first and write home to tell Mom everything that happened today." His face suddenly scrunched up, "Maybe not 'everything', at least I won't say how big she is."

He said as he pointed to the massive Hungarian Horntail, to which the dragon glanced at him disdainfully.

Felix and a reluctant Hagrid headed back, Hagrid walked more slowly with one step at a time even with a Bigfeet than Felix.

"Is the Firetrail Snail okay?" Felix asked.

"It's okay, but a bunch died, had too much lettuce ...," Hagrid said without thinking, and immediately turned his head to look when he heard the hissing of the dragon.

"Do they hibernate?"

"Oh, uh ... hibernate?" Hagrid looked at him blankly in return, "That's a question I hadn't thought of ..." he mused, "Although Sphinx doesn't hibernate, fire crabs do. You're right, I should prepare for that earlier."

Felix nodded, he did not care about the Firetrail Snail, he just wanted to divert Hagrid's attention.

The Firetrail Snail is bred out of the two different snail artificially. There are actually quite a few creatures of this type in the magical world, but not many of them can survive stably, and most of the creatures born because of the wizard's involvement are often submerged in time, with only those old magical journals bearing traces of their existence.

The two parted near Hagrid's hut.

When he entered the castle, the great hall bustled with people from all four houses, singing joyfully as if it were a holiday, accompanied by "crackling" firecrackers bursting, forming a moving image of "medieval wizards fighting dragons".

A loud cheer rang out from the crowd.

The six champions are surrounded by students, looking uncomfortable, with Cedric smiling coyly and Roger Davies holding a goblet in the style of holding wine, talking to Collins, who is sitting quietly, occasionally fixing her flowing hair. Not far from them, Harry and Hermione sat at the long Gryffindor table eating their food quickly - they are starving, as they listened to Ron colourfully telling stories at the dining table, holding a strawberry tart in his hand.

Felix looked at the time, it is obviously not a mealtime, it should be that the students ransacked the Hogwarts kitchen.

The Weasley twins were standing with their best friend Lee Jordan. Fred kept rubbing his hands together as George desperately tried to stop him, "Think about it, we're going to be the public enemy of the whole school."

Lee Jordan also squeezed his eyes at him, gesturing towards Professor Hap behind him.

Fred looked back and grinned, "Okay." He had to give up the extremely tempting idea as he had to put away the Dungbomb in his hand.

Then he pulled out a bag of custard cookies almost as if by magic, "How about trying this? We have a duty to brighten up the atmosphere, Zonko's fireworks are so old-fashioned."

"Wanna give it a try, Professor?"

Felix twirled a cookie, looked at it twice, and out of it flew a beautiful canary that circled the three of them twice and quickly disappeared.

"It tastes a bit strange, is it because of the added magic?" He asked with a smirk.

The twins scowled as they pulled Lee Jordan, who was trying to explain stiffly, and darted away. They made their way through the crowd, putting some cookies in every table as a trap, then squeezed into Harry's group and handed it to Ron, who was gleefully describing his journey.

"Oh, thanks--" Ron took the cookie without looking at it and took a bite: "Where was I? The Hungarian Horntail spewed fire - Hermione's Phoenix and Harry were circling it, and it was terrifying, so I said to myself that something had to be done, and I calmed down and recited a powerful spell -"

"Did you mean the illumination magic?" Fred laughed out loud, "By my count, there are at least twenty people in the school who know this magic."

"That's not the same!" Ron argued, "Sitting comfortably on a cushion chanting a spell is completely different from doing it under the eye of a dragon, I mean - it's at least sixty feet tall!"

Just then, he suddenly turned into a big canary and sat on the long Gryffindor table, startling the crowd.

"It's a canary cookie ...," Hermione said as she took a quick look.

"How do you know?" Harry asked, looking with great interest at the big canary, which turned its head back and forth dully, making everyone laugh.

"Fred and George have posted small ads in the common room." Hermione said.

After half a minute, Ron began to lose his feathers, after the spell lost its effect he blushed and stammered, "You two ... be careful I will hex you ..."

"Oh ~ after confronting the dragon there's no difference, only brave enough to speak harshly ... So, how about continuing your story with the dragon, Mr. Champion? We are all very curious." Fred bowed and asked courteously.

"I am not just a talker!" Ron exclaimed.

Filch stayed in the corner with Mrs Norris, curling his fingers as he debated whether to stop them - but there are too many of them with almost the whole school present. Professor Flitwick, who also standing on the sidelines, said with understanding, "Let the students have fun and celebrate, and I'll remind them to clean up."

Felix walked next to Snape, whose expression looked very similar to the polished armour next to him, which looked out of place with the cheerful atmosphere.

"They're doing well, aren't they? There are Slytherin House students are here as well."

"Do you want me to write a letter of appreciation, Felix?" Snape said, tucking his arms into his black cloak as he said so.

Felix grunted something that sounded like, "I hope so."

"I heard Moody turned your office upside down?"

"Our Headmaster gave him the right," Snape said quietly, looking at the sudden appearance of a 'canary' in the great hall with a disgusted expression, "and you can't avoid it, so you'd better hide your filthy things. ... Mad-Eye Moody not only has good eyes, but also a good nose."

"Oh, I will." Felix said with a very bright smile.

--

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Felix looked around and didn't notice any sign of Moody.

Indeed, this environment is not suitable for him to appear, otherwise, he will turn every single little wizard within sight into a corresponding house creature simply because of blowing up a firecracker near him.

Well ... for a moment he imagined a scene where the little lions, snakes, badgers, and eagles were wildly darting around the great hall, and the house elves rushed over carrying a food basket to carry them away one by one ...

"Haha, cute and comical!"

"Are you talking about the dog? Very comical indeed ..."

Snape's eyes glinted with malice, so Felix looked over along his line of sight and to his surprise he saw a large black dog sneaking around somehow, taking a cutlet from the table and lying in the corner staring at Harry.

Upon noticing their gaze, the big black dog waved its paws humanely, with gravy dripping from the corner of its mouth.

"He does have a knack for being a dog, I didn't know Azkaban offered such training ...," Snape said slowly.

...

This celebration continued till the evening, and dinner was omitted. As people came and left the great hall, it made the kitchen elves burnt out.

Gryffindor common room entrance.

Harry yawned as he returned, the portrait of the fat lady's friend, Violet asked with interest: "I heard you snatched the dragon's egg?"

As she spoke, she stared unblinkingly at Harry, who carried a shiny golden egg under his arm.

"Yeah ... Nonsense." Harry muttered.

"No it isn't!" Violet said angrily.

"He's telling the password ... password is Nonsense." The fat lady said, pushing her friend out of the picture frame and turning her body forward to reveal the entrance to the common room.

There weren't many people inside, and Harry strolled to the dormitory, which was empty. He casually put the golden egg on the bed and slumped on the pillow to drowse. The afternoon's events still seemed to be fresh in his mind, and he was obviously very worried during the day, only he did not show it before. But when it was over, he felt that the dragon is no big deal.

He thought of what Hagrid had said and pulled out that Hungarian Horntail magic lamp from the pocket of his robe, and gently squeezed it, then the little dragon began to flap its wings and spit out a soft light while baring its fangs and claws.

It does kind of look cute... Like Hagrid said ...

He casually picked up the hourglass on the bedside table, which the Niffler Valen that Professor Hap has been keeping traded with him, which he casually placed on the table with a stack of rune cards before. But one day Crookshanks slipped in and scattered the cards along with the hourglass. At that time, he gathered the cards as he stepped on them during bedtime, only to discover that the hourglass had also fallen on the floor.

Then he was worried that the hourglass might have been broken as he picked it out from the floor, and to his surprise, it was very sturdy and intact.

As he's reminisced, Hermione poked her head through the door, "Harry, are you there?"

"In--"

"Let's study the golden egg."

Harry then sprang out of bed and made his way to the common room.

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked casually while staring unblinkingly at the golden egg.

"He's not back yet, he should be with the underclassmen ... you know, he's been pretty stressed out lately." Harry said.

They moved closer and debated whether to open it or not.

In the great hall, Roger Davies had opened the golden egg in public to see what was inside, only to discover that the golden egg was empty inside, and then an extremely horrible, shrill, piercing scream sounded from within, more terrifying than the sound of a ghost band playing with a vertical saw, and the hysterical screams of Myrtle, which when Harry heard it, his heart almost stopped.

After that, Lee Jordan and the twins, who had been interested in the golden egg, tried to take it, so Harry entrusted it to a large black dog for safekeeping and quietly brought him two grilled sausages along with it.

"Do you raise him?" An ethereal voice asked.

Harry looked back, and it is Luna, with a string of magic lamps floating, and dancing around her in a circle, while a dragon-shaped lamp sprawled on her head.

"Oh, uh ... yes." He stammered.

Sirius cooperated by offering his paw to Harry, who shook his head stiffly twice, "Look ... he'll shake his hand, oh, I mean ... it."

"A lot of people think black dogs are harbingers of doom, and many people have written a book ... specifically about it," Luna said softly as she looked like she was in a trance, "but I don't think so. He's a loyal friend."

"Oh, uh, thanks." Harry said.

He wasn't sure if Luna had noticed something, but she just said hello and left, just like she had appeared out of nowhere.

...

Finally, Hermione probed her hand and pressed her nails along a very inconspicuous ring of a crack in the middle of the golden egg and pried it open.

Immediately, a mournful scream echoed in the common room, which scared Ron who just entered, and made him freeze at the entrance, causing the fat lady to urge him from outside.

Hermione slammed the golden egg shut with force, "No ..." she said with disappointment, "It seems everyone's golden egg is exactly the same."

"You think so?" Ron heard the second half of the sentence as he sat down next to them.

"I read in the books that in past tournaments, sometimes champions with different rankings got different clues." Hermione explained briefly, with a pale face, she was frightened by the sound.

It was really a terrible scream ...

Ron shrugged and tapped his hand on the golden egg, "If we chant a spell at it ... like, Scalzi, Scal ..."

"Scarpin's Revelaspell?"

"Yes, that's it." Ron said with an affirmative face.

"That's to analyse the ingredients of the potion," Hermione said impassively, and she thought it over again, "It's not impossible, we just need to think along these lines ... maybe we can try to analyse using the alchemy method. "

"Does any of us know about that?" Ron asked, then looked burningly at Hermione together with Harry.

"Neither do I," Hermione spread her hands, "but I know Professor Hap does, and well, I suppose we could go and learn."

"That is so much hassle, right?"

"Not that troublesome, we have three months, if we can uncover the puzzle in a month, there will be enough time to prepare." Hermione said confidently: "And there is one more skill to learn, alchemy and runes are inseparable, which is like saving time for the future."

The corners of Harry's mouth dropped a little, just keeping up with the increasingly difficult Magic Rune Club activities itself challenging, the only good news is that the Magic Rune Club never gives assignments. He glanced at Ron, and their expressions were unsurprisingly identical.

"Then we'll leave the golden egg to you, Hermione." Ron said with righteousness.

Hermione's stern glare directed at him, so he hurriedly changed the subject, as he looked around, and said with a quick jolt, "Oops, Harry, why did you take it out?"

Harry flinched before he realized that Ron was referring to the hourglass, which he had just brought out in the heat of the moment by accident.

"What is this?" Hermione asked, she thought it looked a little familiar.

"I exchanged this hourglass from Valen, but I mentioned it before." Harry explained.

Hermione snatched the hourglass from Ron's hand and stared at it thoughtfully, "I'm sure I've seen something like it somewhere ..."

"Is it an antique?" Ron asked with interest, "Do you even read these kinds of books?" His last question revealed his true thoughts as he asked expectantly, "How much do you think it's worth?"

Hermione took the hourglass and played with it for a while, occasionally holding it up and shaking it toward the magic lamp above the common room, making a strange sound under her breath.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, but they knew better than to interrupt her at this time, because she had entered into a frenzied research state.

"I can remember!" Hermione said, her eyes seemed to sparkle, "I know where I've seen this hourglass before, it's not from a book, I went into a misconception ... it's Egypt!"

"Egypt?" The two men asked in unison.

"That's right, Egypt," she suddenly smiled like a greedy fox, joyfully: "No wonder Professor Hap wanted to give Valen a lesson, so she has a past criminal record."

"What exactly is it, Hermione, please spare me the drama." Ron said eagerly.

"This hourglass belongs to a money-grubbing Gringotts goblin," Hermione held her breath and murmured, "No, I should say it belongs to an Evil Ancient Greek Dark Wizard, Herpo the Foul!"

--

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"Herpo?!"

Ron yelped briefly, and the people in the common room immediately looked in their direction, so he hurriedly lowered his head with his nose almost pressed against the table as he waved at Harry and Hermione.

The two came closer and Ron's eyes darted around as he asked in a whisper, "Is ... that Herpo? The creator of the Horcrux?"

"That's right." Hermione said.

Ron looked favourably at the dusty hourglass, Harry had previously wiped the surface dust on it, but it still remained very old in appearance, Ron asked in a trembling voice: "Do you think ... this may contain a part of Herpo's?"

"You mean the Horcrux?" Harry asked nervously, looking at the hourglass, which is being held in Hermione's hand.

"No!"

Hermione said crisply, "Professor Hap has checked it before ..."

She looked up, sat up straight, and retold the story of what happened in the Egypt Pyramid, highlighting the description of the statue of Herpo and the altar, and how the statue had decayed.

"It's hard to understand when I say it like that ... you guys wait a minute!"

She "stomped" back to the girls' dormitory, not long after bringing back a chestnut wooden shallow disk, Harry and Ron understood her intention - to use the memory disk to recreate the scene at that time.

So they sat around and watched the churning silver sand inside the memory disk, the dark and gloomy pyramid darkroom from the summer holiday reappeared, the narrow aisle covered with curses, the basilisk corpses that were isolated from the world as if forgotten by time, and a brief glimpse of the statue that quickly dissolved into dust.

What they saw was from Hermione's point of view, she arrived a little later than Felix, only to see him blow a breath, then the statue completely crumbled away, before turning into a fine dust as it disappeared.

Harry and Ron watched the scene with shock, and no exquisite words could fully describe the scene.

"Hold on a second," Hermione said, staring unblinkingly at the memory disk, "the reliefs on the sidewalls of the altar are inlaid with gems and small artefacts which are considered antique by modern standards ... Look here! "

Harry and Ron came closer, and with the help of Hermione's memory, they could see the altar rotating, revealing the side walls carved with different shapes of wizard images.

"Where is that? All I see are gems!" Ron practically put his nose in it.

"Don't just focus on the gems, these wizard reliefs are the highlight, they're holding artefacts in their hands." Hermione reached out her finger and pointed one by one, "The gems are all around the edges, and from their placement, they are pure decoration. Oh, of course, with Herpo's craftiness, it's not impossible for it to contain curses, but they must have faded away by now."

Harry looked closely and sure enough found these wizard reliefs holding various small items - like vials, quills, small wooden sticks (possibly wands?), and ... a dusty hourglass.

"True, there is indeed an hourglass, it looks exactly the same!" Ron said in amazement, "You've quite a good memory, Hermione."

Hermione grunted twice in smugness: "At first I thought the hourglass is a Time-Turner, you know I once kept it for a year ... but I soon realized they were different, although the size is about the same, the Time-Turner is a golden time-piece, with both ends of the hourglass being spherical, while Harry's one is flat and could be placed upright on a table."

"How would we know ... it's not like we've ever seen one." Ron grunted in a small voice.

Intrigued, he picked up the hourglass and placed it upright on the table for a closer look, and through the gray, glass-like translucent container, he could vaguely see some dark golden clusters inside, which were piled up and completely out of fluidity.

"Are you really sure there is no trace of magic left on it?"

Hermione hesitated: "What I can be sure of is that it's at least not a Horcrux, nor a cursed object. Professor Hap's magical perspective can see traces of magic."

"How convenient." Ron said, but apparently, he cared more about the conclusion given by an expert in the field and had no interest in delving deeper when his purpose is accomplished. He picked up the hourglass and shook it vigorously, the dark golden substance inside seemed to be stuck to the inner container and did not move.

"Oh, it looks like whatever it once was, but now it's just a pretty ordinary thing, I know some places in Diagon Alley that take these kinds of items, you know, antiques ... Are you going to sell it, Harry?"

Harry shook his head, "It kinda looks like a memento, doesn't it? At least it reminds me that the Horcrux can decay too," he grinned and said in a mocking tone, "If I ever meet Voldemort, I'll tell him that his desire for immortality is just a pipe dream."

...

The next day, November 25, a full month ahead of Christmas, the young wizards noticed that the temperature had fallen sharply, a thick layer of light blue frost covered the windows of the castle, and the sky clouded as if a storm is brewing.

"It's truly a torture to attend a Care of Magical Creatures class at this time of year!"

On their way to the Ancient Rune classroom, Harry and the group heard a fifth-year girl complain to her friends. Ron chuckled playfully and said, "Hagrid's Firetrail Snail will keep them warm."

Harry couldn't suppress his grin.

In the Ancient Rune classroom, Professor Hap was leafing through the Daily Prophet as a steady stream of students walked by and greeted him, to which he nodded in response. He rose from his chair at the side of the podium when everyone had arrived, the hem of his overcoat grazed the arm of the chair.

" Glad to see we're not missing a person or two in class, especially with the end of the first trail of the tournament." Felix dusted the newspaper in his hand, "It mentions that Hogwarts took both first and second place, and when the Minister of Magic was interviewed he praised the results of Hogwarts' training under the administration of Headmaster Dumbledore. Of course ... in my opinion, Professor Griselda Marchbanks of the Wizarding Examinations Authority provided a much sharper and more enlightening perspective, for those of you who are interested."

"Well, let's start today's lesson."

Felix inquired in class, "Has anyone heard of the man 'Andros the Invincible'?"

Hermione was the first to raise her hand, which wasn't surprising; what was surprising was that Ron raised his hand as well. Harry stared at him in disbelief, looking a little lost in thought, as Ron shrank back and tried to put his hand down.

"Mr. Weasley?" Felix called.

"Uh, the Andros the Invincible ..." Ron stood up and said not so confidently, "I read it from the description of the Chocolate Frog cards - I have collected them, and now I am only short of two of them - he is an Ancient Greek wizard, known for his powerful charms, and he was able to conjure a Patronus as big as a giant ... He is also very skilled at dueling, and many people cannot withstand a single spell from him ..."

He saw the professor looking at himself with a smile, so he searched his mind and soul, so he could describe him: "Andros should be from the same era as the Herpo the Foul, maybe they have met? Probably even fought ..."

Many students looked at Ron with amazement.

"Take your seat, Mr. Weasley. Most of what you said is correct, except for the last sentence. Because it happened during an ancient time when specialized history writers were not common as of later date, so we can only look for historical facts from a very few words. And there is no evidence to suggest that they had ever met ..."

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"Gryffindor plus five points."

"So, the magical handbook we are studying today is from Andros' descendants, possibly his children or nephews, and it records some of Andros' views on magic, all written casually." Felix said mildly: "Although I don't really acknowledge some views within ... but it's still good to use it to broaden your thinking."

Ron, who received extra points, sat down giddily, although the House Cup had been cancelled this year because of the Tournament, but still, it was an honour, especially when he saw the Slytherin students' unconvinced expressions, he felt happier.

Felix also received an unexpected surprise. In this class, everyone answered the questions actively and enthusiastically, and he gave the students extra points as though he didn't care about it-

"Miss Greengrass, a very accurate answer, Slytherin plus five points."

"Mr. Finnigan, although you raised your hand quickly, your answer is not comprehensive, so only two points. Let me explain more specifically, powerful is not the same as explosive strength, we can find another time to discuss this issue separately, I happen to have some useful tips."

"Crabbe ... your answer is full of imagination, please sit down."

...

At the end of class, Hermione stayed behind.

"Would you like me to recommend some books about how to analyse alchemical artefacts?" Felix asked.

"Yes, Professor," Hermione said, as Harry and Ron looked at him intently from the back, she calmly added, "We need to crack the secret of the golden egg, and besides trying our luck, we currently have two ideas, one is to use various deciphering spells, such as a Revealing Charm, Revelio Charm, Specialis Revelio or some similar spells ... we have planned to try them one by one! The second idea is to start from the perspective of alchemy," she shrugged, "No matter what, this is also an alchemical artefact, if we can analyse its production method, no matter what secrets are hidden inside we can discover them."

She glanced at Felix as if asking for advice, "Professor, we think that this is a test for champions, isn't that right?"

Felix dismissed the question. "I have not touched the golden egg before to give an accurate answer about it. However, there is nothing wrong with your line of thinking, if it is me, I will also be thinking in this way."

Hermione's expression looked as if she had been greatly encouraged, as she glanced smugly at Harry and Ron.

Harry did think that the method of trying their luck is not bad, his luck is occasionally bad, and sometimes he gets into dangerous trouble, but so far, he is still alive fully intact... which tells a lot about his luck.

Felix wrote a list of books and signed his name at the same time. "There are some books in here that are from Nicolas Flamel's collection and research, and I picked out some that I felt were appropriate and put its copy in the library. A part of the introductory books are placed in the alchemy section, and a part involving the manufacture of alchemical artefacts is placed in the restricted section."

He handed Hermione the list of books with his signature on it and walked out of the classroom with them.

"It just so happens that I'm going to the library as well, and I'll give you guys a favour by the way, as some books are hidden very secretly that Mrs. Pince may not be able to spot it ..."

Hermione asked with interest, "Professor, are you going to research something new?"

"Oh, sort of," Felix muttered, "if the shield charm counts as something new."

There was some noise outside the library, a group of people blocking the entrance as two senior witches looked inside excitedly on a tiptoe. Hermione said impatiently, "Can't he just take the book and read it back on their ship?"

Felix saw the figure of Krum and knew in his heart that all these people outside should be his admirers.

Ron's expression looked a little odd, he adored Krum greatly before, but after becoming a champion, he unconsciously considered him as a rival, at this time, with one hand on his book bag, he wondered whether he should take out a parchment to ask for his autograph or not.

But when he saw a few girls at the door looking back at them discreetly and gossiping, he put his hand down and straightened his chest as if he was receiving a review. After all, he is one of the champions, and it would be too shameful to ask another champion for an autograph.

"What's on your mind?" Harry bumped his shoulder.

Ron realized that Professor Hap and Hermione had already gone in first. Harry looked Ron up and down and said with a stifled smile, "You weren't expecting someone to ask you for an autograph, were you?"

"Oh, of course not?!" Ron said aloud, with a deep blush on his face.

At that moment, he spotted Moody walking out from inside, holding a stack of books, and as he passed them, Moody paused and stared at them with his two eyes simultaneously.

"You guys did well, especially that digging tunnel trick, it was a stroke of genius! Yeah, for you guys, it fitted perfectly."

They both watched Professor Moody limp away, and Ron said incredulously, "Fit? Does he think we're groundhogs? It's not like we had another choice..."

Harry shook his head, "Maybe he thought that for our age, avoiding a head-on confrontation with a dragon was the right thing to do."

They walked into the library and found Hermione already sitting at a table with a large stack of books and waving at them, next to her is Professor Hap, who also has a stack of books in front of him, only it is a little taller than the one beside Hermione.

Harry and Ron sat in the empty seat, looking at the book in front of Hermione.

"Analysis of General Alchemical Artefacts", "The Complete Book of Common Alchemical Techniques", "Nicolas Flamel Manuscript I", "The Nine Major School of Alchemy", "The Fifth Element Controversy", "Hide Your Secrets", "Unreliable Alchemy" ..."

Ron ran his fingers over the spines of the books, reading the names on them.

"You can start with the most basic ones, I recommend "Unreliable Alchemy" by an alchemist from the seventeenth century." Felix said without looking up as he leafed the page.

As he spoke, a large book flew out of the stack of books in front of them, and slammed down before them with a thud, "The book introduces the basic concepts of alchemy, and refutes some wrong ideas from the Muggle world... ..."

He hesitated for a moment, but he was still unable to resist the urge to introduce a few more words.

"The author of this book, if he had gone deeper, or if someone later had inherited his ideas, maybe there would have been a field just as wonderful as alchemy. But the concept of magic limited him, plus in his time, ordinary people confused chemistry with alchemy, and alchemy flourished that time, so many mistakes became so obvious ..."

He paused, "So you will find the author of this book held 'alchemy' in the common world with contempt."

"After that, because of the Statute of Secrecy, no more alchemists paid attention to the ridiculous conclusions of the non-magical community. And it turns out: they, I mean the muggles, already figured out their own alchemy, only they called it something else - Chemistry."

--

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Chemistry ... a strange and familiar term, like a memory from a distant past life, Harry thought.

Where on earth did he hear about this term? He thought back to his years in elementary school, it really wasn't a pleasant memory, after removing the pranks and humiliations Dudley pulled on him, there wasn't much he could possibly recall from that time.

Fortunately, though, he remembered some of his lab classes. Chemistry is supposed to be the subject of changing substances around, right?

He picked up Unreliable Alchemy somewhat distractedly and looked over at Hermione - " I already read it, Harry." Hermione said as she nudged her fingers over a stack of books, picking out the book "The Fifth Element Controversy" according to her interest.

"Miss Granger, I suggest you begin with chapter seven, which contains a fascinating elaboration on the effects of magic on the matter, it is the most plausible one I have read in recent years." Felix said.

"Oh, thank you, Professor." Hermione said with delight.

"What about us?" Harry asked, desperate for some advice since the book he is holding is no thinner than Hermione's. As he flipped casually to the middle, and then flipped back again.

After that, he saw a picture of a wizard who resembled a portrait hanging on the wall of the old Black Mansion, with curly hair and clothes that looked like those worn by court nobles.

Felix looked up at Harry and Ron with a kind smile, "Start with the prologue. One of the lessons I've learned from reading books is that the basics should not be taken lightly."

"After reading this, then read the Nine Major Schools of Alchemy, together you will be able to acquire the most basic knowledge of alchemy. That is when it would be advisable to write an overview dissertation, but of course, it is barely acceptable to write a knowledge map instead ... After that, when you read The Complete Book of Common Alchemical Techniques, The Nicolas Flamel Manuscript I, or The Fifth Element Controversy, you will be able to read it without difficulties."

Two gulps sounded, as Harry and Ron looked at each other.

'Divination class Assignment?'

'Let's just keep making shit up.'

They quickly understood the meaning expressed in each other's eyes, and they respectively pulled out a piece of parchment from their book bags as they started to read from the introduction, and after only two lines, Harry couldn't help but frown-

'I am a wizard who is madly obsessed with alchemy, remember this name, Crofts Albreld Adrian, it will shine eternally in the field of alchemy, more dazzling than Nicolas Flamel because I will be the first person to conquer the Philosopher's Stone.'

'Some people may say that Nicolas Flamel is the first alchemist who uncovered the mystery of the Philosopher's Stone, but I think this is a misconception because the Philosopher's Stone can produce an Elixir of Life that has no negative effects, and if he really made the Philosopher's Stone, we would not be unaware of it ... and I would have sought him out immediately and worshipped him as my mentor. But the truth is, he has long since disappeared.'

Harry heard Ron mutter, "It's because of people like you that he's hiding." Harry showed a toothy grin, feeling it made sense, as they continued to read on.

'History has never lacked alchemists who claimed to have made the Philosopher's Stone, such statements are similar to those wizards who once acquired a legendary wand, claiming to be invincible in battle, only to disappear from our sight forever. My evaluation of this is: Honour is the reward of hard work, and WHO WOULD BE ABLE TO GIVE IT UP? Similarly, we can infer that those who are said to be able to extend their lives and defeat death won't have any reason to hide from people if they really succeed, right? Or could it be that they have incurable dragon pox sores on their faces by any chance?'

'Next, I will present my own experience to you, I, Crofts-Albreld Adrian, Alchemical genius, graduated from Hogwarts Ravenclaw House, after graduation I spent a lot of time travelling, visiting those prestigious alchemists one-by-one, compiling their ideas, rectifying their mistakes, and ultimately compiled it into my first book. I will dedicate it to my alma mater, the greatest school of magic - Hogwarts. If any future students are reading this, you will probably be aware of my outstanding achievements from my other books ...'

Harry felt that this 'Adrian' sounded too much like Lockhart, and he wanted to ask Ron's opinion, who said quietly: 'I'm suddenly keen on finding out if this man has published a second book, I mean ... there's always the possibility of an accident, maybe our genius friend ran out of inspiration or ran into a Hungarian Horntail that had come out to hunt when he was travelling on the road."

...

Felix at the moment is examining his magic - Shield Charm, pondering how to merge them into one. More than two months had passed since his return from Beauxbatons, and the Beauxbatons version of the Shield Charm had successfully reached level six.

After it had undergone sublimation, the rusty battlefield scars on its surface had faded away and become smooth and shiny, and its colour had turned into a beautiful blood-red like it had been cut out of a huge ruby.

At this time, Felix is holding an extremely metallic mask in one hand - it is part of the complete armour, with a golden one in the left hand and a blood-red one in the right hand, he carefully examined it for more than a couple of days, and still could not find any clue. Felix's initial idea was to block out his memories about the Shield Charm and learn it from scratch, and eventually, the two Shield Charm would naturally fuse.

But this speculation was proven wrong.

He put his two palms together, and the gold and blood-red armour masks clashed together with a crisp metallic clink, but there was no sign of fusion at all. He couldn't help but wonder if his own magic theory wasn't enough to understand and accommodate magic of that magnitude?

Felix casually placed the blood-red mask over his face, and his vision became a blurry shade of blood-red, as if he had a red scarf over his eyes. He raised his head to look around the library, observing the students in the distant seats with this newfound perspective.

There was a subtle clatter from the side.

Felix glanced over his head and saw Hermione giggling. When he looked over, she immediately tried to keep a straight face.

"Professor, what is it?" She whispered as she spotted Mrs. Pince roaming through the space between the bookshelves in her afterglow.

"A tangible representation of the Shield Charm," Felix explained, "both of them." He handed her the golden mask, "How do you think they should be fused together?"

"A sixth-level spell?" Hermione took it with interest, holding it in her hand and examining it carefully. She thought for a moment and asked, " Is that one the same as the spell that helped the Beauxbatons champion fend off the flames?"

Felix nodded slightly as he briefly described the origins of the two forms of the Shield Charm.

Hermione mulled it over, but the question is too deep for her, so she could only guess without basis, "Something to do with the perception of magic?"

"That's a possibility," Felix nodded, "that's one of the directions I'm heading with my speculations, but-" he watched somewhat breathlessly as Hermione also put the golden mask on her own face and looked right at him; Eye to Eye.

"Is it fun?"

Hermione pouted behind the mask, as she took off the golden mask and said seriously, "Could there be a new form of magic above the level six magic, like that Runic Orb? It should encompass both golden and blood-red shield charms... I guess it must be difficult!"

Felix sighed, "The problem is there's no clue, although I know I can do it, and it's only a matter of time." But he was somewhat charmed by the vague glimpse of a higher realm of magic.

"You could always ask Headmaster Dumbledore." Hermione suggested.

"I can't find him recently, maybe our headmaster is out on a trip." Felix shook his head and said, he did not elaborate, that he used the Patronus to go to the Headmaster's office in the morning and was stopped by the Gargoyle at the door.

He guessed that Dumbledore is still on the hunt for the Horcruxes, and perhaps he's talking to the owner of the Borgin and Burkes right now? At least he knew what to get him for Christmas, dark magic- Sneakoscope or a wool cloak.

"Your advice is useful, Granger." He said, waving his hand to disperse the magic.

Felix left soon after, he had class in the afternoon. When he disappeared, Harry handed Hermione a newspaper.

"What's wrong?"

"Borrowed it from the next table," Harry said succinctly, "Check out page four."

Hermione quickly flipped through the newspaper of that day, her eyes pausing briefly at the picture of Durmstrang's Headmaster Karkaroff's grim face, with the headline "Are cheaters still qualified to be judges?" Not surprised to see Rita Skeeter's name in the journalist's column, she felt genuinely grateful that this woman hadn't focused on them and even incredulous that they had got away scot-free.

She quickly flipped to page four. It consisted of a small article, an interview with the official in charge of the Wizarding Examinations Authority, and she knew that this would be the opinion of Professor Griselda Marchbanks that Professor Hap had mentioned in class.

She glanced through the article and found the "sharp and enlightening" part -

Reporter: What do you think of Hogwarts' performance on the first trial?

Marchbanks: I'm proud.

Reporter: Did you find it strange that two teams came in first and second place, respectively?

Marchbanks: No, I think it's normal. It shows that we have come out of the shadow of the war.

Reporter: There are views that the achievements of Hogwarts' education are the result of Minister Fudge being in power, what do you think?

Marchbanks: Oh, that man is talking nonsense.

--

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In the third-grade classroom, a jewelled wooden box is placed on the lectern.

"Why does it look familiar?" Ginny whispered. Next to her, there is a little witch with fluffy hair and a sleepy look.

Felix tapped the lid of the box thrice with his wand, and the wooden box creaked open, revealing the crudely made wooden goblet inside. The moment it was revealed, the young witches' eyes widened in unison, and they both dropped their quills in unison.

"Goblet of Fire?!"

There was a neat, unified, audible intake of breath. As one student cried out in surprise, looking incredulously at the blue flames burning quietly on the goblet.

Felix smiled, "Of course ... it isn't," he said with a wide grin.

"The Goblet of Fire has been extinguished, this is a replica, I picked up a random piece of wood while walking at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, at that time I was thinking about how to attract your interest ...," he said with a smirk, "so I wanted to use the opportunity of the tournament to create a memento."

All the students sat upright and stared at him with rapt attention.

"This is the prize for today's quiz. For the record, the fire on this is not dangerous,"

"Professor Hap, is this Gubraithian Fire?"

"No, that is a flame that will burn forever, so it is also known as the eternal fire," Felix explained, "Although I can also cast it, it is quite time-consuming to precisely execute ... "

The students looked at the professor with an expression of disappointment as they considered he was just being lazy.

"Although it is not Gubraithian Fire, but it has its own advantages." Felix added.

He probed his fingers into the Goblet's flame and retrieved a small blue flame, which he watched as it burned quietly in his hand for a few moments before fading away.

When he looked up again, he met with many pairs of twinkling bright eyes.

He smiled slightly, it seems that the disposable prop that took five minutes to make is working well, the only question is, what is the best alternative for the next time. "So, let's start today's quiz. Take out the 'answer space', I have updated the latest quiz information on it ..."

The young wizards below sprang into action, spreading out the answer space, and tapped the tip of their wands as they silently recited the incantation, and soon they spotted a new icon in the area of ancient runes - styled exactly like a Goblet of Fire with simple outlines.

Ginny tapped it quickly; she badly wants that Goblet of Fire replica, and at the moment her hands are shaking with excitement, as her wand pokes it twice with much force that one will wonder if she will puncture the thin parchment.

But no student managed to do that yet, because the professors applied various protective enchantments to it.

The Goblet of Fire icon on the answering space was highlighted in no time, and from the mouth of the goblet a dancing blue flame burned, then from it, a ribboned gift box spat out, which continued to enlarge, and to her amazement, a bright blue light converged above the parchment, then the parchment spiralled into a swirling vortex from which that box emerged into reality.

She recognized this as the work of memory magic, as the surface of the gift box did not look real, flickering with blue wisps.

She glanced around quickly; everyone else - including a confused Luna - stared in awe at the gift box that was floated out of the vortex, although she isn't sure that her best friend had broken away from her usual state.

Ginny nudged Luna with her shoulder, "Let's see who's faster!"

"Sur-e" Luna said, as she gave her a dazed look, before lowering her head to reveal a tiny braid in her tousled hair.

The gift box opened silently, and a bronze-colored book with a lock is placed inside, a lock that she tried to unlock with a spell, but it didn't work at all. "I'm such a fool." She slapped her forehead and used her wand to outline a few runes on the cover of the bronze book - which happened to be blank - and in no time the lock disappeared.

When she turned the first page, a question is written on it, "Your motto?"

She quickly wrote on it, " Be daring like a lion." Only when she finished writing did she realize something is wrong, after two seconds of staring at the lighter blue-green page, which did not change a bit, she realized something and quickly translated the sentence into the ancient runic language.

Fortunately, she asked Luna about this.

So the bronze book turned to the next page, and she took advantage of this gap to steal a glance at Luna, whose answer is completely different from her own, but she also passed with flying colours, which made Ginny realize that the answer is not standard.

She restrained her other emotions and focused on the second page, which consisted of a scattered string of runic letters with the sentence at the top, "Nall is sad and upset." She quickly looked at the runic letters on it, and there was one she didn't recognize, but she already knew the answer; it was a sentence from the 'Nall and the Clay Dolls' story.

When she finished arranging the runic texts through the pattern on the page, she let out a long breath of relief, and then when she noticed that Luna had already started the third page, she felt anxious.

As time passed, Felix sat very leisurely in his chair by the podium, sorting through his book of runes, and occasionally stood up as he walked around the classroom to check on the students' progress.

The quickest so far is Luna, followed by Ginny and Colin Creevy, the latter and his brother's 'Harry Potter Fan Club' was so famous that even he had heard of it, and before it had only attracted a young wizards from the first and second years, but after the first tournament trail ended, the number of students from upper grades had also started to join.

The three performed slightly differently.

Luna bobbed her head gently, answering the questions unhurriedly, sometimes adjusting the order of the sentences to line them up as neatly as possible. Ginny and Colin were sweating profusely, and the youngest Weasley girl's fiery red hair was stuck to her forehead.

"Ten minutes to go, if you don't care about the prize, you can ignore the time." Felix reminded.

Ginny sweated anxiously, there were no more pages left in the bronze book in front of her, but it kept getting harder and harder at the back, and she tossed her hair in annoyance, which looked like a puff of equally bright, leaping crimson flames that mirrored the flame of the goblet of fire on the podium.

It's getting close ...

Ginny wondered if Luna had finished answering her questions, as she seemed to be half asleep. Why she hadn't heard her report? She forced herself to ignore it all, to remove the distractions, and after five minutes, she finally finished answering.

In a flash, the bronze book "clattered" and flipped to the first page, and then closed, the 'answer space' once again swirled with a blue vortex, from which a large number of coloured fireworks burst out.

The sudden noise caused the young wizards to look up at Ginny's position in bewilderment.

"Oh, it looks like the first one to finish has appeared," unknowingly, Felix stood before her, holding a rough wooden replica of a Goblet of Fire with dazzling blue flames dancing on it, "Here, it's yours, Miss Weasley."

After class, the others gathered enviously around Ginny, asking her permission to touch the blue flame.

"It's so beautiful ... I was so close." Colin Creevy said dejectedly, "I left with the last question, what about you, Luna? You've always been good at this, I thought you were going to win!"

"I also stopped at the last question." Luna said in a singing voice.

" Yea, that question was really hard, maybe if I had five more minutes ..." Colin said regretfully, "You're lucky, Ginny ... Ginny? "

Ginny looked at Luna with a critical eye as she bit her lip and whispered, "Luna, you 'stopped' at the last question again?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Luna tossed her hair, "it was pretty hard, wasn't it? I've been thinking about it for a good while ... it is beautiful." She said, staring at the Goblet of Fire with slightly bulging eyes.

"Want it? I will give it to you." Ginny said.

"Oh, what?" Luna said with some panic, "I don't need ... because, because--"

"Because she already has something more precious." Felix said gently from the corner, "Is that the point you're trying to make, Miss Lovegood?"

"Of course." Luna nodded hastily.

--

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Felix watched as Ginny and Luna left the classroom together holding the replica of the Goblet of Fire, which, to be honest, isn't really light, but he also sensibly didn't suggest that they could use magic.

They were both smart enough to think that, so they probably just didn't want to, rather than not really realizing that they could use a Levitation Charm to reduce the weight ..., right?

...

The next morning, it is another weekend, and he pacified the sleepy Niffler as he walked through the office fireplace to Diagon Alley.

Felix walked down a long cobblestone road lined with crowded stores and eateries, huge sunshades stretched in front of some stores, and the sign of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour shone with warm yellow light.

He could tell, just by looking, that 'Future World' company is doing well - he often saw magic lamps, large and small, through the store windows along the way, and they blended into the heart of London's wizarding community like a drop of water.

In front of the headquarters of the Future World Company, he was surprised to see a large crowd of people crowded at the entrance, noisy and lively. At the same time, people were talking and laughing as they walked out from inside.

Two staff members at the door calmed the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, don't crowd, everyone will have a turn." Every now and then he let one or two people in.

What's going on here?

Felix stood staring from the side for a moment, and when he stepped forward, the crowd automatically parted, "Wait, Mr. ... you are, Mr. Hap?" The staff member who is blocking the front asked in surprise, then looked at him with adoring eyes as he led him into the vertical castle building.

"Mr. Hap, please go in, I still have to maintain order." The staff member said respectfully.

Felix nodded and climbed up the stairs, looking around the interior of the building.

The whole environment had changed.

He remembered how empty it had been, now the floor tiled with dark tiles, the chandelier at the top visible from the center of the hall, and the circular steps at the side connected each floor of the castle.

Felix remembered most vividly that he, Snape, and Lupin had fought here, and later discussed the company's development plans together.

But the main lobby in front of him looked like a magnificent museum, filled with people.

Young witches gestured at a dozen exhibits that should be newly developed products by the company's researchers, while several staff member in uniform introduced it to them.

"Professor Hap." A girl with long, curly hair said.

"Clearwater," Felix addressed the person next to him, "the company has changed so much, that I hardly recognize it."

"It's the result of everyone's efforts." Penelope smiled as they walked up the circular staircase toward the second floor at that moment. As she walked, she introduced, "Clammy suggested that we opened the lobby on the first floor, and we put some of the products that weren't fully finalized on display for outsiders to visit and try out periodically, as they will suggest some helpful modifications for the products."

"I see, you all did a good job." Felix nodded slightly and said emotionally, "Maybe I should give you guys a pay raise."

He stood at the second-floor railing and looked down from above.

A young witch put on an emerald crown with the help of the staff, followed by a gasp from the crowd, as her whole body glowed with a kind of scarlet light, her hair turned into a pale snow-white colour, with a magical glow intertwining and stretching down along her neck, a pale toffee-coloured princess dress donned over her, with a flamboyant flower blooming on the edge of the hem, while everyone looked at her with admiration.

"How much is this! I want this one!" The witch shouted. She now looked like a princess, every inch of her skin shining with a dazzling lustre.

"It's not for sale, we are still trialling its effects ..." the staff had to explain with difficulty.

Twenty or thirty feet away, a curly-haired boy with vivid purple hair blew a sea-blue bubble with force, wrapping his younger brother, who had just turned one year old, inside. The bubble looked so resilient that it floated with the baby inside at a height of two or three feet. The baby sat in the bubble and reached out his chubby little hand towards a budding Grandiflora, only to be blocked by the bubble. Then, when the aquamarine bubble landed on the bud of the Grandiflora, the petals bloomed a little, and a thumb-sized flower fairy emerged from the bright yellow pistils, flying around the baby in a flash, causing a burst of "giggling" laughter.

Their parents stayed behind them cautiously, double-checking that there were no problems ...

As Felix walked upstairs, he asked, "How is Percy doing in the Ministry of Magic?"

"Him?" Penelope sighed, "He's too busy, especially eager to achieve something, and coincidentally his boss, Mr. Crouch, is on a long holiday, so he can only give instructions through the owl, which leaves him full autonomy to decide many small things completely on his own ... He's addicted to it ..."

She said with some frustration, "He mentioned to me that he wanted to live in the Ministry, but I stopped him."

Felix paused, his impression of Percy stemmed from his hard work in his studies combined with his rigid stubbornness in his daily life; Oh, there's also his extreme lack of a sense of humour. Although he himself is not a big fan of jokes, at least he can understand them, and he is also willing to cheer them up and laugh along, but these behaviours are not seen in Percy's case.

According to Mrs. Weasley, "If he made a decision, not even 10 dragons could pull it back."

Felix looked at Penelope thoughtfully.

"You can convince him?"

"Usually ... yes." Penelope was a bit puzzled, but she answered anyway.

"Hmm." Felix nodded.

They reached the third floor as they pushed open a pair of solid wood doors, and inside there is a spacious room where Lupin and several people are standing and engaged in serious conversation.

In the center of the room, there is a huge portrait-like canvas in the colour of wormwood hovering above with video playing on it-

In the video - two delicate golems are dueling, blue lightning and orange fire are intertwined. The golems are obviously being manipulated, often using the terrain to avoid attacks at the last minute, moving naturally and smoothly. The few researchers on the floor watched unblinkingly, occasionally letting out a gasp of surprise, or inhaling in unison from the intense action scenes.

Felix recognized astutely that this is not a magical painting under a spell, but some form of live broadcast, as he saw Clammy Vera and Eric McKee, who is surrounded by the crowd - as they're controlling the golem at the bottom of the canvas screen, and a huge camera-like object is pointing at the middle of their 'battlefield'.

Seeing Felix approaching, Lupin quickly walked over. He said grumblingly, "If I hadn't been getting letters from the owls, I would have thought you gone missing."

"Didn't I visit before?" Felix asked with some embarrassment.

"Indeed," Lupin nodded and said mildly, "Let me think when it was, if my memory hasn't been altered, I saw you last week, no, that was through the Communication Mirror (*something like Two-way mirror*), what about a week before that? It was through your Patronus - sending me two recipes for alchemical materials. Oh, what about the week before that week? Again I recalled it incorrectly, it was actually Dobby ..."

"Ahem!" Felix rolled his eyes lightly as he quickly changed the subject, "Is that the space capsule I told you about? How interesting ..."

They looked together at the other side of the spacious room, a young researcher took out a capsule from a flat metal box and threw it to the floor, which exploded with a " bang " as a cloud of white smoke spread, from which all sorts of miscellaneous objects were thrown out, canvas pieces, kettles, clothes, and even a few pieces of firewood... ...

The researcher let out a disappointed groan, "Oh ~ it still doesn't work ..."

When it came to the business, Lupin became serious. He withdrew his gaze and said to Felix, "The Ministry of Magic still refuses to budge, you know, they have a very tight grip on the Undetectable Extension Charm."

"You don't have to worry about the obstruction from the Ministry of Magic." Felix said.

Lupin stared at him, "That's not what the people from the Department of Magical Equipment Control have been telling us."

"Don't worry, Remus." Felix reassured him, "As long as they still allow magical items with Undetectable Extension Charm to be sold publicly, whether it's a tent or something else ... even if there's a single item available, Future World Company will also be able to get permission."

"The only thing that you need to pay attention to is to do a good job on the anti-tampering part so that the product usage will never change." Felix stared at the young wizard experimenting in the distance and said, "No living things, especially people, are allowed to be carried." He thoughtfully added: "It is best to urge the Ministry of Magic to improve this part of the law and make clear regulations on the size of the space allowed for expansion ..."

" You're talking as if the Ministry of Magic is your home, I am not as confident as you." Lupin mumbled, but Felix pretended not to be able to hear him. He took Lupin by the shoulders and led him to a huge workbench with various scattered items on the table.

Thermostatic lockets, Magic Lamps, Communication Mirrors, Emerald Crowns ... were all over the place, and it looked dazzling.

"Well, you can give me an introduction, what are the new products, and how the company has been developing recently?"

"At present, we have seventeen products, but twelve are still being perfected, including those in the lobby ... leaving only five, plus the Weasley twin brothers' couple's mirror - we renamed it into Communication Mirror when we sold it to the public. For now, it can't do long-distance image transmission because that technology isn't perfect yet - every available product is already on sale in seven branches."

"Not counting the orders from abroad ..."

Lupin showed an expression of recognition, "The Quidditch World Cup light show was very successful, we have received a large number of orders one after another, and our manpower is completely insufficient, so we had to cooperate with the owl post service company."

As he spoke, a teal owl flew in through the castle window. It circled around Lupin twice and dropped a letter.

He hastily opened the letter as he glanced at it, and explained while reading it, "It's an inquiry about product launch time. Your strategy worked well, we enclosed a list of products ready to be launched along with the magic lamp in the mail ... quite a few people have written to enquire."

He concluded, "Counting those from abroad, 'Future World' company already has more than a hundred employees. Even the Daily Prophet doesn't have that many people."

Felix, however, didn't feel it would be enough, "Keep expanding. If we don't have enough people, just continue to recruit."

Lupin looked at him hesitantly, " Currently there is barely enough, although recently it is rather busy, but this is only because the company is still in the pioneering period, when the operation is smooth in the future, there will be no need for so many people."

The magic world's companies are actually quite a few. Primarily because there are only 20,000 to 30,000 wizards in the entire United Kingdom, plus with the convenience of magic, only a few skilled employees are needed.

Besides, the companies usually belong to a certain family, and they only recruit people every ten years or so. In a way, his 'Future World' company is something special - at the current momentum, if the brakes were not applied, it might only take two or three years to overtake the Ministry of Magic in terms of number of employees.

Felix looked at Lupin, his light blue eyes locked with his, and he said calmly.

"For the next good long while, I want the company to be in a pioneering period, as for smooth running ... it will probably have to wait until you retire."

--

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"How's Harry doing? There's not much about him in the newspaper ..."

"He's fine, he's probably sleeping with his dragon egg in his arms."

At the moment, they are sitting in Lupin's office, and Felix is drinking tea while surveying the interior furnishings, "Tch! The colours you picked are a bit old-fashioned, you're not even forty yet."

Lupin shrugged his shoulders, "That's not young either."

"You still have a lot of time to squander." Felix said, as they drank tea for a while and started talking about business.

"How are the rune cards selling?"

"Not bad, if it weren't for those engraving machines, the demand might have exceeded the supply, and there are foreign merchants seeking cooperation on their own initiative, all of them are outlets gained from the previous magic lamp sales."

Felix nodded his head in satisfaction.

" I think Ludo Bagman's proposal is not bad, the projection screen will be used in the second and third trails, which may require you to travel a lot. Of course, the most crucial thing is that we can record the tournament and make a video ... We can't just count on a Weird Sisters group to promote the magic gramophone, right?"

For wizards, there is not much gap between storing sound and storing images at the same time. Likewise, it is not a pipe dream to connect a flat picture to a stereoscopic projection.

Lupin lowered his head and pondered, After a long time, his head turned slightly towards Felix.

"I don't disagree, except that there are a few difficulties at the moment unless you're willing to help - the next trail is in February?"

"February twenty-fourth."

" Then we can make it in time," Lupin mused as he looked over at Felix: "Everyone in the company admires you, and even those who are new to the company have heard about your legend ... You know, even though you didn't stay during the summer holidays for that long, but you solved most of the problems, and when you left things alone, our research progress slowed down all at once."

"Well, I'll spend the weekend at the company." Felix said reluctantly.

...

With him on board, the research progressed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Many times when the researcher asked a question, he would quickly simulate it all in his thinking room, and in a few minutes, he would be able to give a solution with a theoretical basis.

The whole company, from newcomers to old people, were ordered around by him, but they all had a very exciting expression.

"Is this the level of our boss?" An Irish redhead wizard whispered quietly, he was recently recruited into the company, with great mastery in Severing Charm as well as being very adept at Synchronized Transfiguration.

"You haven't seen how great he was at the Quidditch World Cup!" A young researcher said.

" I was studying abroad ... a while ago," the red-necked wizard muttered, but although he said that, he still couldn't contain the strong admiration that rose up in his heart when he looked at his boss, who know soooo much.

Felix methodically assigned the tasks: "This time we are going to try two new options - the first group, use the long-distance transmission enchantment, and the second group, use synchronization enchantment together with transfiguration, well, this one is more complicated, I will personally... ..."

Ten minutes later, liquid-like golden fog flowed quietly all around, and above the fog, the light kept refracting, forming a blurred image.

"There's a slight problem ... we should restrain the fog, how about trying a Placement Charm? Or some runic circuits?"

Felix constantly mused about it, as Clammy quickly recorded his words and the effects of the experiment next to him, after a whole afternoon went by, the trouble that hindered them had been solved more than 70% or 80%.

In the evening, everyone in the company said goodbye to him one by one, and their faces filled with sincere recognition.

" Look, only you can be the head of this company." Lupin said with a smile.

Felix rubbed his forehead, the intense use of thought acceleration was not something easy for him either. Especially since he had continued to use it for such a long time, at the moment he didn't want to think about anything other than lazily lounging on the sofa in Lupin's office.

"Don't you think that I don't know what you are thinking," Felix said with half-closed eyes: "I just don't want the company to always rely on me alone, it's okay for now, I can solve all the problems we encounter, but later- "

He abruptly paused.

"What about later?" Lupin looked at Felix strangely.

But to his frustration, Felix just hummed, holding a teacup as he slowly sipped it, "In the future, of course, I'll sit back and wait for the money, I don't want to work hard."

"I don't remember this is something that you said before," Lupin said, " I always found it strange how you registered the company with the Muggle government under the same name 'Future World'... ..." he looked at Felix cautiously, carefully weighing his words as he said softly, "You seem to anticipate some kind of change in the future, such as a complete collapse of Statute of Secrecy?"

"Felix, are you preparing for that?"

When he said this, Lupin himself got taken aback. His brain slowed down more than a beat slower than usual, and he, who is usually clever, froze as he thought over and over again in his head several times before coming to a terrible conclusion, and he lost his breath as he uttered.

" Do you want to follow Grindelwald's example and forcibly abolish the Statute of Secrecy?"

"How is that possible." Felix laughed, as he opened his eyes, "I didn't consider that far into the future, and I didn't want to like Don Quixote, Tilting at windmills all by myself ..."

"Huh?" He rubbed his chin and pondered, "Come to think of it, I actually do have the ability to tilt windmills apart."

Looking at the increasingly serious expression on Lupin's face, he grunted, "Why are you acting like Percy, without any sense of humour ..."

Lupin gave a feeble laugh: "This is a serious issue that I can't afford to joke with, especially when it's you who are saying this, I simply couldn't take it as a joke. So, what are you thinking? You dumped the company to me, and now I need to know more about your ideas about how to manage it."

"My idea is simple."

Felix raised his finger: "First, let the wizards gradually aware of the development of ordinary people, we, as pioneers, shoulder the responsibility of combining the wisdom of both and displaying it to one of the parties, it is clear that we have no other choice, for the time being, the customer can only be a wizard ..."

-- but the future is hard to say.

"Second, taking necessary precautions against Voldemort's return."

-- in other words, gathering multitudes of people together.

"Voldemort?" Lupin looked at him in surprise, the expression on his face was at first incredulous, then he obviously thought of something and became worried.

"Has anyone ever mentioned this to you?" Felix asked curiously.

"It's Sirius," Lupin frowned, then he pulled out a bottle of eggnog from the cabinet behind his chair and poured a glass for himself, "Do you want some?"

Felix shook his head slightly.

Lupin took a large sip and said, "He didn't elaborate about it in detail with me, it seems to involve a big secret that Headmaster Dumbledore prevented him from revealing to the others ... but he told me not to lag behind in my training, the war of a dozen years ago is far from over - -"

"All the hatred will end in the future." One of his hands clutched his knee with a death grip.

Felix looked at Lupin, who he knew had an enemy - the one who had got away scot-free.

He said softly, "You guessed right, Sirius' words were right. No one knows what the future holds, and Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts has been relatively sloppy for the past decades, plus the Ministry of Magic did not hold much sense of crisis after that war, so except for Aurors, everyone else will struggle to even barely cast a complete shield charm."

"Now, in recent years, the dueling club has become a norm, and this year it has become an elective course. It partially replaced the defense against dark arts function, so now the graduates are able to protect themselves from basic threats. But if they neglect their training, it won't take them more than a few years for them to forget the little knowledge they've learned ... Have you thought about what you can expect from them when war actually occurs?"

Lupin also realized this problem. More than ten years ago, why Voldemort can become everyone's nightmare? First of all, his personal strength is very strong, even Dumbledore can not stop him; secondly, the Death Eaters under his command are not weak, and moreover, he gathered a group of dark creatures, which caused a lot of bloodsheds.

He did not dare to imagine what another war would bring, it is simply because the interval between the wars is too short! If Voldemort came back, that group of people who had experienced the war would only submit more quickly, to suffer less. After all, as long as they are not Muggle-born, they probably won't be slaughtered, but of course, not many people will truly support the rule of the Dark Lord.

In fact, at the end of the last war, this trend has been there.

As the only person that the Dark Lord fears, Dumbledore remained closed in the school. Many people have a lot to say about this, but there are still a few people who believed that Dumbledore had actually fought Voldemort and won, which is why during the war the Dark Lord did nothing to the students of Hogwarts - with the character of the Dark Lord, why else would he let the muggle wizards in the school leave alone that easily.

But it is clear that Dumbledore could not stop Voldemort, at least not like how he imprisoned the first Dark Lord. There are rumours that said that the Voldemort is good at some kind of escape magic, which he has practiced to a remarkable degree, and there are also rumours that the Voldemort has transformed himself with the evillest dark magic so that he can recover quickly and will re-appear again no matter how much he is injured ...

Lupin's heart is in a mess, at that moment, Felix's voice seems to have come from out of heaven.

"As for the third, I am indeed not pleased with the Statute of Secrecy, and also not pleased with the Ministry of Magic's mediocrity ... but what is the use of my dissatisfaction can do alone? Using the power to oppress and become a second Dark Lord? Oh, sorry, a third, either way, it's a foolish move."

"That's why I consider myself as a variable." He suddenly showed a mischievous smile as he kept twirling the teacup in his hand, "Yeah, that initial variable, the first variable ... that will alter certain things, lead certain things, promote certain things, and leave things alone until the storm comes."

"Even though I never passed divination class, I just have a firm hunch - that I will live a long time," Felix said to Lupin with a smirk, "so I can afford to wait. "

--

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After returning from Diagon Alley, Felix once again used the Patronus to check up with the gargoyle in front of the Headmaster's office, this time he did not get blocked from meeting Dumbledore.

When he walked into the office, portraits of past headmasters were snoring in their frames on the wall, and Dumbledore stared intently at the Pensieve.

Felix was surprised to hear Rita Skeeter's voice, with a little echo. Her two-inch-long, red-painted nails glinted in the Pensieve as she said slyly, "Oh, Dumbledore, you know, my book is about to be published ..."

To which Dumbledore replied with a murmur, "That's not a great idea ... Felix?" He said as he looked up while stirring the silvery substance in the Pensieve with his wand, and Rita Skeeter's face disappeared along with her long, brightly painted nails.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, you have been quite busy lately, but I did not expect that you were meeting with her." Felix chuckled, "Could it be that you want to publish an autobiography? If so, it really isn't a great idea to ask for her help."

This was made in response to what he had heard Dumbledore talking to himself when he first entered.

Dumbledore laughed with amusement, his beard fluttered as one. "We can leave our mark in many ways, with magical portraits, Classroom Seven memory bodies, or even just by simply living in people's memories ... but I don't think an autobiography has to be included."

Felix shrugged as he fiddled with the silverware on the table with his fingers, watching it making a chattering noise and spewing out wisps of smoke.

"Any luck?"

"Ah, apart from a few memories to prove that Voldemort grew up poorly ... there weren't many noteworthy pieces of information, besides, I went for a stroll around the seaside cave you mentioned, and I have to say, Felix, you were really rough, all I found were ruins. "

The two then talked about the shield charm, to which Dumbledore showed some interest, but soon he looked a little tired, and Felix took the initiative to say goodbye.

"If you can, pay more attention to Madame Maxime, Felix." Dumbledore said from behind him.

Felix frowned, "She's suspicious?"

"No, Of course not," Dumbledore said lightly, "I'm sure she would never become a pawn of Voldemort, what concerns me is whether she could be our friend ..." he then said with some concern: "Hagrid got sent to the hospital wing recently."

...

It was at the end of the month before he saw Hagrid again.

As December approached, the weather became increasingly chilly, especially since it rained and snowed last night, which left patches of blue ice crystals all over the ground as the students trudged through the yard in their thick cloaks.

Felix followed the crowd to the edge of the forbidden forest, and Beauxbatons' carriage came within his sight, with several students near the carriage looking around as they conjured up a transparent ice slide and slid down from high above, to Hagrid's Hut, which is not far from them.

A scarfed witch sat quietly by the side of the carriage, holding a golden egg in her arms. When she spotted Felix, she ran over cheerfully.

"Professor Hap!"

"Miss Delacour?" Felix asked as he glanced at a strand of silver hair which peeked out from under her scarf.

"It's me," Fleur lifted her scarf and smiled sweetly, "Madame Maxime is waiting for you."

The carriage is not cramped, it looks just like a mobile Inn, with a dozen spacious rooms compartmentalized and separated from the central room that looked similar to the common room of the Hogwarts. The room is warm like spring, and it is decorated with all Beauxbatons characteristics. In addition to large bushes of pink and blue flowers, he also spotted a magical fountain, which churned out a mist of ice-blue water that blended with a sweet fragrance.

Fleur led him through a door marked with the emblem of the Beauxbatons school, and brought him to the dining room in the carriage, where Madame Maxime is dining, as she wiped her mouth with a blue napkin and waved her hand, "Please sit down, Felix ... Fleur, join us."

Fleur obediently sat at the table to eat, then she tucked her shiny silver hair to the left side of her neck while listening to the conversation between them.

Felix first thanked her for her time, and through the small round window, he could see Hagrid's burly figure walking back and forth in front of the pumpkin patch, giving lectures to a group of students.

"How strange, how can anyone like that thing ... what, it's called a fried tail scorpion or something?" Madame Maxime snorted through her nostrils, as she gestured with her blue-patterned fork, which is several times bigger than the one Felix is holding, towards the fuzzy landscape in the distance.

"Firetrail Snail." Felix said, scooping up a bowl of seafood for himself, a fish stock that he guessed that they had brought from France because he had never seen such a fish before, but there are still a few fish in the soup that he saw in the Black Lake, not sure if Hogwarts offered it or if the Beauxbatons students caught it on their own.

Madame Maxime looked distracted and said with very little interest, "I'm not interested in magical creatures."

"I happen to know a magical creatures expert, oh, not Hagrid, someone else, Mr. Newt Scamander." Felix said, "He's retired, but he had some great stories about his younger days, and I was able to hear about it a lot from him."

In fact, the one he had talked to was Newt's memory in Classroom Seven, and Felix had only recently discovered that he had a unique advantage in developing relationships with those memory bodies.

Although the memory body resembles a person, but ultimately they're no longer considered as a person, on the contrary, they resemble ghosts more. One of the most direct distinctions between them is that they have no sense of taste and can only recall the food they had once eaten, while coincidentally, Felix can bring out many dishes from his mind - exclusive to ghosts and memory bodies. After many years, Newt was particularly nostalgic about everything in the Hogwarts kitchen, and Felix used that opportunity to learn a lot of interesting information.

For example, how he got expelled.

Felix talked about Some of Newt's adventures. Unlike the "wizards fighting dragons" stories that Madame Maxim and Fleur usually heard, Newt's experiences were filled with knowledge and love for these magical creatures - he rarely used violent means to deal with them and made friends with them as much as he could.

" In short, he rescued that poor Thunderbird from Egyptian smugglers and later brought it back to America ..."

"Mr. Scamander has a heart of gold and more genuine feelings for the creatures, it was me who is narrow-minded." Madame Maxime said sentimentally, the large glass of gin before her already bottomed out.

"And after that?" Fleur pursued.

"I don't know," Felix spread his hands, "it might have been a romantic love story after that, he met a lady. I guess they are now playing a game of throwing meatballs to mooncalf together?"

After that, he talked about the current state of French werewolves by using this as a talking point.

"I know what you're talking about." Madame Maxime answered, "The Wolfsbane Potion, a remarkable innovation, our Ministry of Magic imported a batch of it, and to be honest, it's a bit expensive ... so the minister is negotiating a deal with this side, hoping to buy the formula for the potion."

She then said with some dissatisfaction, "Your minister is acting like a shrewd businessman, asking us for a lot of goodies."

"Oh, and he didn't show any respect for Madame Maxime!" Fleur said pointedly.

Felix glanced over to see Madame Maxime shaking her head slightly, but her eyes flushed, making him wonder what exactly Fudge had said, or rather, acted out. But he wisely did not bother to ask.

The three at the table next ate in silence, and Madame Maxime once again glanced toward Hagrid's pumpkin patch. In the distance, a giant Firetrail Snail spurted a cluster of sparks from its tail and pulled the student forward with a jerk, dragging him through the snow as he slid forward.

"Ouch! Haha." Madame Maxime laughed.

--

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When he parted, Felix gave her a small gift.

"What is it?"

"A recliner that comes with some interesting magic and is comfortable to sit on." Felix explained, "It's one of the new products of 'Future World'. I heard from Remus... Umm, Mr. Lupin who is in charge of managing the company, that you had sent a letter asking about the size of this product, and whether customization would be available... ... so I brought it along."

When he left, Madame Maxime and Fleur stared blankly at a metal box, which at the moment had been opened, and inside a capsule-like gadget had been placed on a red velvet cloth.

"I should have asked ...," Madame Maxime murmured.

" Did you write to the 'Future World' company?" Fleur asked with an odd look in her eyes.

" Can't I?" Madame Maxime grunted, "Didn't you also collect two small magic lamps at the light show?"

Fleur stuck her tongue out while twirling up the capsule, and examining it carefully for a couple of minutes without the slightest clue. So she handed it to Maxime, and Madame Maxime rubbed the surface of it, "Huh? The magic is unstable, it seems to be disposable."

Then she took out her wand and lightly tapped on it, the capsule made a "click" sound, and it cracked from the center, and Madame Maxime tossed it aside.

"Bang!"

A blue and bronze recliner appeared abruptly in the middle of the dining room, which looked at least three times bigger than a normal recliner, resembling a bed with a backrest and armrests - at least from Fleur's point of view.

But she wouldn't dare say that, as she encouraged Madame Maxime to try it out.

When the big-boned lady leaned her body on the recliner, a layer of colorless transparent air cushion suddenly emerged from the surface of the seat, "Huh? So comfortable, as if I am sitting on a cloud, the name『cloud chair』 is really appropriate ..."

Madame Maxim's face showed an intoxicated expression, watching this made Fleur's heart itch to try sitting on it instantly.

After a good while, she stood up from the recliner and said with a look of satisfaction, "There should be a fair amount of beneficial enchantments in it, not very potent, but together they can make the person lying on it extraordinarily relaxed, as if all troubles got forgotten, really a good stuff."

Fleur's eyes sparkled with stars, "Can I buy it? With this little thing," she pointed to the palm-sized box on the table, "it will only take an owl to deliver it, right?"

"As you heard, this product is not yet available and may have defects. I'm just experiencing it first, and will need to give suggestions when I am free." Madame Maxime said, "Put it inside the bath in my private restroom."

"Yes, Madame Maxime." Fleur responded as she moved the levitating recliner forward with her wand directing it as her eyes sparkled with excitement.

...

"You tampered with Olympe's gift?" Hagrid's eyes widened.

"Don't say it like that, it would break my heart." Felix sat on the couch in Hagrid's hut, with one hand scratching Fang's chin as it grunted in comfort and drooled.

"I didn't tamper with anything, on the contrary, we did our best as we could. The problem is, that the test versions don't always work as well as they should, especially with the lady with an unusual physique, the chances of problems occurring are even greater. Currently, the selected beta testers are provided with a set of instructions with easy methods of repairs. I just ... happened to forget to leave a copy for Madame Maxime."

Hagrid froze, then he buried his head in the product manual Felix had given him, mumbling quickly, "Softening Charm, Cloud Spell, Calming Charm, Placement Charm, Shaping Charm ..." He quickly flipped through a few pages, "Repair Manual ... list of frequently asked questions ..."

His eyes gradually brightened up.

Felix picked up the cage containing Aragog and brought it closer to Fang, his snout twitching as he sniffed hard against the cage, the old spider inside cowered in the corner, waving its large claws threateningly.

"Get away from me, you stupid mutt, and don't think I don't have much venom left ...," the old king of Acromantula said in a thick voice.

"You're looking pretty spirited." Felix said with a smile.

" Got used to it," Aragog said, the stiff black fur that covered its body had turned gray and white, and its two large claws dangled feebly below the cage as it said sadly, "Hagrid took me to the Colony once, and there was no place for me there now, and we got chased out ... I predicted this day, there is a bloodthirsty instinct in our bodies, and if I die naturally in old age, they are bound to eat me."

This batch of Acromantula in the forbidden forest has always served Aragog as their king, and Aragog was raised by Hagrid, so it can be said that they are far more docile in nature than the wild Acromantula, just like Thestral, which can almost be called as domesticated creatures. But the Acromantula was created without the word "docile", they were designed to guard the wizard's treasure troves and secret chambers ...

One day, they will become more and more ferocious, and at that time, it will be time for the Acromantula to disappear. However, it should take a long time before that happens.

Felix pondered, then looked up, Hagrid is looking at him with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes.

"I can see what you mean, Felix, you're just too sweet ..." Hagrid choked out, "Few people have been so kind and considerate towards me, even my dad... ..." He sniffled heavily and made a loud hiccup.

He then started to rush around, searching the various corners of the hut for magical creature materials, then he retrieved a complete hide with ash colour tusks of a Tebo Warthog, Unicorn hair, a stinger of a Manticore, and the wings of a Flower Fairy ...

"I recalled that you collected these materials, it's all stocked over the years, I picked these up when I patrolled the forbidden forest. The Tebo Warthog fell into a trap, located on the other side, and starved to death when I found it ... I also found the stick that the trolls use to smash things, it stinks terribly, but it can be used quite smoothly ... I washed it many times before using it exclusively to smash pumpkins, if you need it, it's just right behind the door."

"Oh, Hagrid, I don't need ... well, I'll just take a little, just the hide from a Tebo Warthog, I guess I can mix the fur of a Demiguise with it to make a protective coat, and of course, the stinger of Manticore is something I wouldn't say no to."

Meanwhile, Harry is drowsily sitting in his History of Magic class, and the other young wizards are acting pretty much just like him, dazed with a bit of confusion, as if they haven't woken up.

There were a few people - like Hermione, who insisted on taking notes, trying to hear one or two details not mentioned in the textbook from Professor Binns' breathy, trailing voice, Harry wiped the corners of his itchy mouth to wipe away the saliva, he looked around, Seamus is snoring lightly, Neville's head kept nodding, and every time his head reached the lowest the quill in his hand woke him up as he jerked his head up and wrote down the words he heard, and then within ten seconds, he was once again dull-eyed, his eyelids drooping, repeating the previous action.

Harry stealthily tugged at Neville's History of Magic notebook and glanced at it, the latest line being "The food in Classroom Seven is delicious." He covered his mouth to hold back his laughter, did Neville write it wrong? At the end of class, he learned the answer from Hermione's mouth.

"Classroom seven has become a gathering place for ghosts?"

"Didn't you guys notice that Professor Binns sounded a lot more hyper than usual?" Hermione said seriously, "He mentioned Classroom Seven three times in class ..."

"And you're the only one who can tell." Ron said.

"So, are we still going to the library today? I think it's waaaay nicer in the common room, and I don't want to see Mrs. Pince again. Have you noticed that she looks a bit like Filch? I mean the sunken cheeks, the parchment-like skin, and the long hawkish nose ... Huh, why does that sound a bit like Snape?"

Harry and Hermione laughed their heads off. After laughing, Hermione scowled and lectured him, "Don't you dare to speak of her like that, Mrs. Pince takes her job very seriously."

"Yeah," Ron muttered, "walking behind me when I'm picking out books and chasing us out with a floating feather duster when we talked too loudly ..."

" By the way, Harry!" He said excitedly, "I found out that Ginny won a Goblet of Fire replica from Professor Hap, the kind with flames! I wanted to borrow it to look at it, but she refused, I guess she is planning to give it to you for Christmas, how eccentric ..."

Harry did not say anything, but Hermione did, "No way! She wouldn't give it away, I heard her mention that she wanted to treasure it for the rest of her life."

--

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The main theme of December is blizzards and snow; And compared to the whole vast world, Hogwarts Castle looks like a small animal wearing a white fur hat in the snow.

Like a Niffler.

A pair of Hogwarts students were standing in the yard chatting. "Come closer," Eleanor said, pulling a locket from her thin dress pocket while looking at it closely. "I remember seeing the dial to adjust the range at the edge ..."

The boy next to her hesitated and sat slightly closer. Caldwell watched her intently fiddling with the dials on the locket.

"What's this?" He asked curiously.

"A thermostatic pendant that Mom sent me." Eleanor explained as she kept her head down and examined it. "There!"

"What ... wow." Caldwell said in awe as he felt a warmth seep in a little through his cold clothes, a little uncomfortable at first as the heat made him suddenly realize how cold his outer layer of clothing was, but soon he squinted in comfort.

It seemed like the summer had suddenly returned.

"I wondered why you weren't wearing a thick wool cloak, but it turns out you have this ... thermostat chain!" Caldwell said, as his face was flushed from the heat, that he hurried to loosen the thick scarf wrapped around his neck.

"It's a thermostatic pendant," Eleanor repeated, and then brought the pendant towards him, "it has two dials on it, one to control the range and the other to control the temperature, it's a new product of the ''Future World'' company, and Mother mailed it to me right after the release via owl as soon as possible."

"Future World?" Caldwell heard another unfamiliar term.

"Oh yeah! That's a pretty famous company recently, and they were in the News for their new cool products, Magic Lamp Show, the collaboration with the Weird Sisters group. They have outlets in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade ... They also have a list of their new upcoming products, a dozen of them, and I especially want that Emerald Crown."

Caldwell looked at her enviously, "You know a lot, unlike me who knows nothing."

"Because my mother is a witch, and she graduated from Hufflepuff - just like me, and she's the one who told me the little secret of the kitchen ..." Eleanor said with narrow eyes, she had moon blond hair and a bright round face.

"So you don't have to worry if you don't understand something, just come and ask me." She said, patting her chest.

They sat on a bench in the yard

"Look, that guy is a Slytherin, you can tell by the colour of his scarf."

"Those two girls are holding golems, props from Ancient Runes' Class, I guess they're looking for a secluded place to play."

"Ha, look at that guy, doesn't his clothes look like Little Wizard Mick? Especially the way he's scratching his head, so silly ..." Eleanor giggled.

Caldwell listened intently, then pointed to a man at a distance, "It's Professor Moody!"

The two went quiet, watching in silence as Moody dragged his one leg, walking towards them from a far distance for a while. They held their breath until he turned a corner and the "crunching" sound of snow finally disappeared.

"He's scary, isn't he?" Eleanor whispered.

"Yeah, you're right," Caldwell agreed. "You can't bloody guess how scary he was when he yelled at me that day they selected the champions, that bloody battered nose not three inches away from me when a young professor saved my arse... ..."

"Stop it." Eleanor immediately recalled the image of her being reprimanded by Professor Moody when she dyed Puffskein during class.

Under the effect of the thermostatic pendant, the bitter cold wind turned into a soothing spring breeze, with a coolness that made Caldwell feel comfortable. He felt that Eleanor had set the temperature of the pendant too high, that it felt like both of them were sitting by the fire of the fireplace, the surrounding snow with them as a center unconsciously fizzing away in a circle.

"What's that?!" Caldwell suddenly shouted, pointing at the snow on the courtyard, "There's something down there."

"I don't know." Eleanor said, pulling her wand out of her pocket and looking warily at the snow, Caldwell followed suit, but they are both still first years and haven't learned many useful spells.

"It must be some kind of living thing!" Caldwell said as they brought their legs up and placed them on the edge of their bench, watching carefully as something in the snow trailed a long trail before stopping not far from them.

Just as Caldwell began to ponder whether a gaping maw full of fangs would suddenly emerge, the snow bulged up with a small bump, "It's coming out!" Eleanor said nervously, with her one hand holding Caldwell's arm in a death grip.

"Don't… don't worry, it doesn't look that big ... I should be able to deal with it ... Huh?"

He was about to cheer Eleanor up when a pink beak poked out, revealing a furry head.

"Kee!"

Niffler Valen lifted her head and surveyed the surroundings through a layer of snow, then she paused briefly on Eleanor and Caldwell, before looking in the direction of the courtyard exit, after which her body once again burrowed deeper into the snow.

"What's that ... it doesn't look that scary." Caldwell said, as he couldn't help but flush, perhaps because Eleanor leaned too close to him, and that pendant made him feel a bit too hot.

"A Niffler." Eleanor said, "I heard from the Prefect that one of the professors in the school raises Niffler... Oh, crap."

"What's wrong?"

"We missed an opportunity! The Prefect said that this Niffler has lots of treasures, and no one knows what goodies she has hidden in her pockets; and if anyone meets her and has some trinkets in their pocket, they can exchange them with her treasures if she finds them interesting!"

"What could a Niffler possibly have, a pretty stone?" Caldwell asked, and that was all he could think of.

"More than that, I heard that twins gave this Niffler a box of Exploding Snap cards, and got a feather pen that could draw in the air, with drawn characters that would move ... and another student gave her a glowing grass and got a bottle of blue bubble blowing liquid in exchange. "

"Bubble blowing liquid?"

"You can hold a person inside that Bubble!"

Caldwell imagined a scene where Eleanor is inside a blue bubble, and he found himself looking forward to it. But that Niffler had already left, and he could only watch with bated breath as the Niffler left a trail in the snow.

...

Niffler Valen has been enjoying a rare holiday. She and that Great Devil have made a deal that for every hundred words she learns, she can stroll outside unsupervised.

Coming out of the courtyard and moving some distance away, she poked her head out again. She smelled a dozen familiar scents, then she selected one of them and moved there quickly. When she raised her head occasionally, she could overhear some plausible conversation -

"I'm only telling you, who made you my sister ... Professor Trelawney predicted that something bad will happen!"

"Well," a disinterested voice said, "who's going to die this time?"

"Padma Patil!" The one who spoke before sounded less pleased, "You should learn to respect the professor."

"Sorry, Ravenclaw only respects those who are truly knowledgeable."

Niffler Valen poked her head out of the snow and hesitantly made her way back when she saw twin sisters facing each other like they were about to cross swords.

"Look there, it's Niffler! Don't leave! I want to exchange something with you!" One of the witches ran towards her excitedly, which startled Valen, as she rushed into the snow and bolted away in a flash.

This time she became much more cautious. When hearing the sound of talking, she would deliberately slow down her pace. Soon, she picked up a familiar voice, no, three of them.

"The people of Uagadou are living in the igloo, don't they?"

"Fred, you are insulting my African friends, they have their own quarters ... The environment is indeed not great, but it is certainly much better than Durmstrang, the poor ghost ship that wobbles in the gale ... " said a voice that spoke quickly without sounding very upset.

"You really made friends with them?" Fred asked, somewhat surprised.

"Look at my braids, man, we're all going to get Eagle Hair Braid tonight!" Lee Jordan shouted like a protester demanding some perks.

"Oh, Lee, the Ravenclaw House students won't be happy to hear that ..." George said with a laugh.

Niffler quickly scurried away like a black shadow and found her target before entering the main castle building.

"That's an absolutely terrible idea." Ron said.

"I don't think so." Hermione said calmly.

"Don't you think it's outrageous? We crouched outside the Ilvermorny's campsite for two hours just to talk to those Pukwudgies... I almost died of fright when they pointed their arrows at me."

Harry remained silent, today he wanted to sleep after breakfast as it happens to be the weekend, but Hermione had dragged them to interview the Pukwudgies, asking them how their lives were in Ilvermorny, saying that they wanted to do a comparative study between them and Hogwarts house elves

As a result, those Pukwudgies unceremoniously drove them away, as for how he felt ... he is now completely wooden from head to toe, just wanted to hurry back to take a hot bath, with no desire to talk

At this time, a black shadow sprang out in front of him, and he subconsciously drew his wand, but stopped the moment he looked at the black shadow, "Valen!?" He shouted in surprise.

Niffler climbed up his shoulders and looked at Ron and Hermione arguing from a high position.

"Kiki (Go on!)!"

--

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In the common room, Niffler Valen enjoyed a special treat.

After sending off a group of people who came to see the fun, the Trio sat in the corner and took their usual spot. Ron and Hermione did not feel like talking because Valen had seen their embarrassing side, Harry thought or felt that it would be easier to talk to Valen.

"Want some candy?" He asked.

Valen shook her head, as she pulled a box of Exploding Snap cards out of her pocket, her dark eyes looked at them. Which suggested, do you want to play cards?

Hermione, who had been silent, laughed, "Valen, you learned this?"

Ron winked at her and whispered in a tone of revealing secrets, " I will show you a new way to play; My original creation ... not the Classical playing method, nor the Patience playing method, look!"

He unwrapped the box and quickly used the exploding cards to build the base of a castle, "Next is the second layer, keep stacking up, this time your hand must be steady ... oh ..." Ron made a long face as the second layer of the castle has begun to sparkle up.

Valen deftly leaped up from the table, jumped into Hermione's arms, and stared back at the two-story crude castle.

"Bang!"

The entire castle of cards Ron had built exploded, a cloud of sparks and black smoke rose from the table, and Valen watched it all with great interest.

Harry and Hermione wanted to laugh but did not dare do so; Ron wiped his dirty face haphazardly with his sleeve and said bitterly: "It's actually quite exciting, isn't it? I recommend you to play with the professor, if you play with another person, you will eventually win the game. Trust me, I'm on your side!" He swore to Valen.

"Oh, right." Hermione said suddenly, holding up Niffler so that her eyes would meet hers, "Valen, you know that hourglass, the one you traded to Harry?" She passed Harry a look.

Harry understood and pulled a gray hourglass out of his pocket and held it out in front of him, "That's the one. I heard Hermione say, er, she actually only heard Professor Hap mention it once, that you robbed the Gringotts goblin of his gems in the middle of the night and were then ordered by the professor to return them ..."

Niffler stared at the hourglass for a while, she didn't remember much, this kind of thing doesn't have much appeal to her, what happened then?

Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched Niffler gesticulate, and they guessed almost the whole thing.

"So, you returned all the gems, but somehow, the hourglass remained ... later when counting your treasure, you did not take it seriously." Hermione concluded.

Niffler nodded and continued to gesture.

"You have too many treasures ... to notice this hourglass?" Hermione asked with some difficulty, and Valen nodded vigorously, yes, that's right. At the side, Ron's eyes widened as he stared at Niffler's Pocket, "How many things are you hiding, I guess I could just check--"

Valen immediately turned her head away.

"--well, I see what you mean." Ron said.

At that moment, Ginny came over and sat next to Hermione, "Yo, little Valen, it's you ..." Hermione brushed her fur, while Ginny teased Niffler as she asked in a careless tone, "Have you thought about it, whether to take the initiative and invite your ball partner first or to wait for others to invite you? Well, you know it would be better to think ahead than to end up being left alone."

Harry and Ron's eyes widened, they were worried about this matter. Yesterday, during Friday's Transfiguration class, they finished their classwork early - turning chicken into guinea pigs - and decided to play a dueling game. Harry and Ron were holding two fake wands, and Ron's turned into a tinned parrot, and Harry's became a rubber hedgehog, then the two of them were competing back and forth in the back of the classroom like a fencing match. (*the fake wand that was created by twins in an earlier chapter*)

Hermione looked at them with an annoyed look on her face as she was organizing her transfiguration notes, "Gentlemen, can't you do something appropriate for your age?"

"As you can see, we're practicing our fencing skills, following the footsteps of our first Head, Godric Gryffindor." Ron justified his childish behaviour while taking advantage of Harry's lack of attention to attack vigorously.

"Yeah, well, Do you know Gryffindor's favourite spell?" Hermione asked softly.

Harry and Ron paused and looked at each other.

" Sharp Edge(*made-up spell*), this spell can add magical properties to a weapon, making it drastically sharper and tougher, like the effect of a Severing Charm; but of course, much better. When Gryffindor wielded his goblin sword, he could easily cut through the dragon's hide." Hermione explained while finishing the last part of her notes.

At that moment, Professor McGonagall came over and looked at the tinned parrot Ron carried - Harry's rubber hedgehog's head broke off in the scuffle - and she pursed her lips without saying anything.

With that, she turned and walked up to the podium and announced the Yule Ball to everyone.

"The Ball is only for 4th years and above, so if you plan to, um ... loose your hair and relax," Professor McGonagall said after a moment of indifference, "you'll have to find yourselves a date! ... Of course, it's okay to invite your underclassmen ..."

Lavender Brown made a loud giggle, but she wasn't alone, Parvati Patil jabbed her with force and they both turned their faces to look at Harry. In fact, more than half of the girls in the class were eying Harry at that time, and Harry had never felt such a burning gaze.

At the end of the class, Professor McGonagall left Harry, Hermione, and Ron with a staggering announcement.

"You should already know." McGonagall said dryly.

Harry watched in confusion as Hermione nodded like it was natural, he then looked at Ron, who was also confused, Harry thought Professor McGonagall had kept them for his headless rubber hedgehog, but now it seemed his understanding had gone out of whack.

"Potter, all the Champions should be accompanied by their own partners--" Professor McGonagall said.

" Partners - what!" Harry took a breath and interrupted her.

"Partners, date, whatever you prefer," McGonagall said, noticing Harry's blush with an understanding smile, "Yes, it is traditional that the ball is started by the Champions and their partners."

Harry remained frozen, as he tried to muster up a bit of a cheerful expression since Professor McGonagall obviously thought it is an honour and privilege that belonged to Champions, but he could only imagine the comical sight of himself in a large bowler hat and tuxedo for a moment, and then he felt eager to throw that honour out the window.

Maybe Ron would love the idea, Harry thought, but he soon realized that Ron is also one of the Champions, along with Hermione.

When they emerged from the classroom, both Harry and Ron felt a bit listless, which made them not notice the equally jittery Hermione on the side, and Professor McGonagall's last words hit them like a whip and cracked their heart -

"As the most important representatives of the school, you must do what we expect you to do. Therefore, you must find yourselves a dance partner."

As they walked toward the great hall, Ron said a little bitterly, "Harry, you don't have to worry, you have always been popular, the girls can't wait for you to ask them or maybe ... someone will ask you instead. It would be much harder for me, and, did you hear what Professor McGonagall said? Everyone must wear a formal dress ... Damn it! I only have that dress which looked like embroidered by grandma ..."

In fact, Ron's words made sense, and Harry truly is more popular than he thought. The very next day - that is, this morning, while he and Ron were having breakfast in the great hall - a curly-haired third-year girl from Hufflepuff House asked Harry to the Yule Ball, and he had never even spoken to her before.

It was a bit of an awkward scene. He was discussing with Ron about a dance partner, and they both fretted about it, and Ron even pessimistically suggested that they should use Incarcerous to get one, "Let's not, that's our most powerful spell." Ron said with a deep feeling.

Harry let out a snicker while stuffing his mouth with pumpkin porridge when that girl came up to him and invited him.

"Oh, uh, what did you say ... sorry, I haven't thought about it yet." Harry looked at her in surprise, and because it was so sudden, he declined without thinking.

The girl walked away with a deeply hurt expression on her face.

After that, Hermione, who had hurried downstairs, dragged them towards Ilvermorny's quarters, "We were looking for a dance partner, Hermione!" Ron complained at the time, but Hermione dismissed his excuse on the grounds that there is still half a month before the Yule Ball, and both Harry and Ron also felt like escaping, so they followed Hermione - until they were extremely bored while squatting in front of Ilvermorny's quarters for two hours.

If you ask him now, Harry couldn't tell you which was scarier, to challenge a dragon or to invite a dance partner or a two hours of squatting in the icy snow, but the scary part was that it was now late in the evening when he was ready to take a shower and go to bed after hosting Niffler Valen, Ginny's question instantly brought him back to reality.

...

When he lay in bed at night, all could do is rolled around without being able to sleep, as Ginny's comments to Hermione echoed in his mind: "Have you thought about it, whether to take the initiative and invite your ball partner first or to wait for others to invite you? Well, you know it would be better to think ahead than to end up being left alone."

He originally had a name in mind, but he knew it was just his own delusion, yet a vague thought told him, what if, what if Cedric hadn't invited Cho Chang, that Collins is quite pretty, isn't she?

But now, he wasn't that sure.

--

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The Yule Ball had a bigger impact than, what everyone expected; As even Felix was affected by the ripples.

While he was eating his breakfast in the great hall, he noticed a fiery gaze and looked up to find that it was from Uagadou's champion, the witch named Nona Leibert. She stared at him with great interest, but when Felix gently fed Niffler a piece of strawberry cake, that fiery gaze faded away from him.

The hallways were filled with chattering girls who loitered in groups, and whenever a decent boy passed by, they would hold their breath and look at that boy with anticipation.

Of course, they may have gotten one thing wrong; that is so many people shouldn't have gathered together. While being with their peers would increase their courage, they would also correspondingly lower their counterpart's courage. Felix had seen more than once that the eager male wizard had lost his battle intent in front of a group of girls.

'Anyway, It was quite entertaining though.' He thought to himself.

In the Magic Rune Club, Felix sat lazily on the couch as the members of the club sat around him in twos and threes.

"Today is the last activity of this term, the next time we will only be able to get together after Christmas. The exact date is still not set yet, so keep an eye on your Ring of Ouroboros... Back to the point, for today there's going to be nothing new from me, so continue to deepen your control over your magic as per the progress from the last activity."

Felix waved his arm, and from the corner of the room, a metal cage flew out covered with dark-coloured cloth sheet, from which an annoying buzzing sound was heard.

All the students pursed their lips and looked at the cage with complicated eyes, they are aware of what is inside.

"Oh yeah, the usual drill - if you get stung, the potion is on the table." Felix said as seven or eight bright blue bottles of potion flew out of his ring and landed on the small round table in the center of the room.

The club members skilfully pulled out and wore their thick leather gloves, then one by one, they lined up in front of the cage, and resignedly plunged their hands inside, accompanied by a tooth-aching "chatter" sound, as Draco Malfoy grabbed a half-inch-long blue insect from the cage.

"I hate Billywig." He whispered. While still wearing gloves, he flicked it a few times with his other hand, and the Billywig insects' lustrous lavender shade body kept wriggling, as a thin needle at its bottom kept stabbing his gloves.

"Maybe I should remove your needle, so you don't sting me." Draco whispered in a threatening tone, "Perhaps it would be good to throw it in someone's collar."

Harry immediately looked back at him warily, and Draco let out a silent snicker.

After a while, everyone received a Billywig insect, and Harry stared at the one in his hand, always feeling it was more active than the rest, then he saw Ron quietly casting a "Full Body-Bind Curse" on his one.

Can you do that? Harry's eyes widened and then tried to copy Ron's method. But the next second, the spell was undone, "I'm watching you, Weasley." The professor's voice reached their ears slowly.

Many of the students who had made preparations in advance showed regretful expressions as Fred and George put their small tweezer away.

Hermione snorted, displeased with their opportunistic behaviour, then she sat down next to Ginny and Luna - Luna is in her third year - she submitted her application in the first month of the school year and passed the test with flying colours.

After her, the number of club members increased one after another by five.

Hermione whispered to Ginny and Luna as she demonstrated, her fingertips swirling with light blue magic, which surrounded the Billywig insect in multiple layers, like a glowing blue cocoon, binding it within a very small area.

"Look, first wrap it with your magic, then take off your gloves, it's easier with two hands ... Ginny, I need your help."

Ginny helped her to take off her gloves, and then Hermione's two hands traced in the air constantly.

The Billywig has wings on both sides of its head which flapped very fast, but at the moment it was just a futile attempt, as it got trapped in the same space under Hermione's magic.

"Just like this, and then expand your range a little, but first be sure that you can be able to control them."

Hermione said to Ginny and Luna, from her opposite seat the Greengrass sisters were staring at her with wide eyes, the two sisters were in the identical posture - with the gloved hand clutching the Billywig insect, their eyes blazed as their mouths puffed up a bit.

Meanwhile, Harry fiddled with his insects appropriately. Unlike Hermione, who excelled in terms of Magic manipulation, and according to the professor, she had reached the second stage where she could control the Billywig insects at will within a one-foot radius. While he, together with most of the people in the club, had to lock it firmly with their magic, because at the slightest negligence, it would quickly fly away.

What would follow next would be a nightmare ... Harry did not want to recall the last assembly, in fact, he fared better than the rest, but when you are surrounded by sources of danger, it is not up to you whether you want to be stung or not.

From what he observed after that, the club members from Gryffindor House seemed to have lost interest in the "Fizzing Whizzbees" because it reminded them of their own painful experiences of being stung.

Harry carefully, without any distraction, manipulated his magic, he felt good today, so he gradually slackened his control, allowing the web of magic around the Billywig insect to expand, the insect fluttered its wings, so he got startled, and hastily shrank the magic, as the insect's legs immediately straightened.

Still alive, this is his conclusion after repeated confirmation. Harry looked around sheepishly and only got satisfied when he noticed Malfoy's Billywig wing became wrinkled, and at Professor Hap's reminder, Malfoy had to cast a healing spell on it.

The rest of the day went by so quickly that even Malfoy and Ron's screams of pain didn't distract him that much.

At the end of the assembly, Harry managed to widen the range where he could control the Billywig insect, he watched it flap its wings, but it could not fly beyond half a foot radius, even though it was a little short he still nodded with satisfaction.

Others in the class also made their own progress.

Harry discovered Professor's hidden trick. He noticed that Professor Hap would always explain the benefits of doing something before asking them to do it. For example, in the last few assemblies, everyone was moved by the beautiful picture that Professor painted for this training like "Wandless Spell Casting, Controlling Spells at Will, Learning Spells quickly with ease."

Especially when they saw Professor Hap sitting on the couch and being able to control any fast-flying Billywig in the whole room, they were convinced of the authenticity of his words.

After the assembly ended, the young wizards walked out.

Hermione stayed behind to help him tidy up the remaining boxes and vials they had left behind, "Oh, it looks a bit miserable..." she said about a Billywig insect that had lost its wings.

"It's the most appropriate teaching prop I could find, Miss Granger. Besides, they are potion materials that I borrowed... I heard that you guys still operating that 'Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare' organization?"

Hermione nodded. She hesitated for a moment and then said with some confusion, "I don't know if I should continue this, as the house-elves doesn't exactly seem like they need my help, plus Harry and Ron have no interest in this either ..."

Felix looked like he understood her.

"I know you're not used to seeing how wizards treat their house-elves and think they're being mistreated, so I had suggested you look into it first, and it seems to be working well - in the past you could only see the injustice done to them as a whole in a universal sense, and projecting that sentiment into every single elf alive, so It's only natural that you would run into obstacles everywhere.

There's a saying - You Will Never Understand Until You Experience Them Yourself, Miss Granger, you have to first realize that you're dealing with a race, a community, where the needs of each individual in the community will tend to differ from each other.

You first have to identify who is holding you back."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You mean ... pureblood?"

Felix laughed gently, "I didn't say a thing, Miss Granger. I read your report, it was very detailed and even mentioned the Pukwudgie of Ilvermorny ... You know yourself that the house-elves at Hogwarts are leading a good life, and those tragic encounters you saw often come from a certain privileged group of people, and with your current influence, with all due respect, there is really only so much you can do."

"But-" Hermione slowly considered it, then her thoughts gradually became clear, "I know how to do it, I'm going to--"

"No, don't say it out loud, it won't be effective if you do so. Keep it in the back of your mind and always remind yourself of it so that you can have the motivation to move forward." Felix said as he winked at her.

"Oh, Professor ..."

Hermione smiled like a child. It felt like she had solved a long troubling problem that had been bothering her for a long time, and her whole body lightened up. Then she also felt more motivated.

"Have you unlocked the clue to the second task yet?"

"Not yet," Hermione shook her head, "in fact, I have designed a plan to decipher the clue from the golden egg, but I got worried that I will break it, so we are going to wait a little longer."

Felix nodded slightly.

"By the way, Professor, are you going to attend the ball?" Hermione asked.

"Probably will show up, and grab a bite to eat or something." Felix said uncertainly while guiding the cage to the corner: "I'm not very good at dancing."

"They say there's a new song by the Weird Sisters at the ball! Don't you want to try it?"

"I know, I've heard it in advance, would you like an album?"

"Uh ... no need." Hermione said with disappointment.

...

"W.W.N?" Harry asked puzzled.

"It's Wizard Radio, you should have heard of Wireless, right?" Seamus gave Harry an uncertain look, and when he nodded, Seamus continued, "That's it, similar to Muggle radio, but if you listen to it for a while, you'll find that the songs on it are always nostalgic ..."

"It's difficult to find new songs." He said with a definitive tone. The others stared at him while he laughed and explained, " That's what my mom said."

"Yeah, after years, the Weird Sisters are finally releasing a new song ... I bet my Mom is going to be overjoyed." Ron said with certainty.

The last week of the school term got busier by the day.

The young wizards placed almost all of their enthusiasm on the upcoming Yule Ball. Because of that students became very distracted, so Felix simply stopped taking classes. The ancient rune class had progressed far beyond the other subjects, especially the fifth and seventh years, who were already started to review.

He brought his small projector to the Ancient Rune classroom and played films for the students.

"Professor Hap, I've heard a few things from other grades ... We don't want to see dinosaurs or a film about a young boy who is all alone at home catching a stupid thief - is there any romance film?" Lavender Brown asked boldly.

"Romance?" Felix repeated. Noticing that all the girls had worked up their courage to meet his gaze, at that time Seamus wanted to say he'd rather like to see what a muggle-imagined dragon looked like, but Parvati looked at him very evilly that he was compelled to shut up.

"Well," Felix agreed, as he sorted through his ring, "there ought to be one that will satisfy your demand, probably ..."

The thick curtain in the classroom was drawn close, the light became dim, and with the creaking and rolling sound of the machine, the film began.

This is an animated film, which begins with a beautiful natural landscape, with lush green grass and red roses, waterfalls, and streams, wherein in the depths of the dense forest, an exquisite castle stood out. The students who saw this film for the first time chattered and discussed -

"A dynamic comic film? I like the new series from L.C.A. Has anyone seen it?"

"I think it's a Muggle film, Professor mentioned it before."

"Huh? H-how did they manage to make the picture move? Has anyone taken Professor Burbage's class?"

"Oh forget it, I don't want to talk about disgusting flies and peas ... Honestly, I think her research went astray, and I definitely won't pick this class up as an elective for the next year."

As the film narration began, they gradually quieted down and were drawn into the fascinating story.

"Once upon a time, in the hidden heart of France, a handsome young prince lived in a beautiful castle-"

"Hey, a prince… Ohh!" A witch cried out.

"Shut up, Lavender."

"- Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was selfish and unkind. But then, one winter's night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away. But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within.

But the prince was unmoved ...

...

So the witch transformed him into a hideous beast and placed a powerful spell on the castle, and all who lived there, and the rose she had offered was also an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his twenty-first year.

If he could learn to love another and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time.

...

As the years passed, the prince fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?"

The students watched in awe, what a powerful witch she is, to possess such terrible magical power.

But they had realized that this was not something that really happened, it was just something imagined and thought up by muggles who could not do magic, it is inevitable that there will be some common sense mistakes ...

As the story progressed, they were completely captivated by the plot of the film, and even the boys who were indignantly complained about wanting to see dinosaurs previously, couldn't help but worry about the characters in the film.

"That guy named 'Gaston' is awful!"

"This would be a perfect moment if a dark wizard passed by-"

"What's going on in your head?"

"Belle is so sweet ..."

The film ended with a magnificent ball, and the students could not get enough of it. Felix smiled at them and said, "Well, this class is running a few minutes late, so you better hurry up and get to the great hall for your meal."

The students walked out and excitedly discussed the plot in the hallway.

The boys focused more on whether the magic in the story could be realized, "I don't think after turning people into teacups, they can still talk and move. It doesn't make sense!" Ron said.

"Hey, man, maybe the Professors can do it?" Seamus argued.

"It's just a film." Dean said, as he grew up in a Muggle family, he understands the best that the film was only trying to say some moral.

"No, it's against the Transfiguration ru-les," Ron reddened, as he half-stammered, finding himself struggling to remember the corresponding knowledge points, so he looked at the side, "What do you think, Hermione?"

"I'm in the middle of something!" Hermione said as she walked with the girls in a group towards the great hall instead of with Harry and the gang, to quickly discuss something.

"What's gotten into her?" Ron asked uncertainly.

Harry shrugged, "Maybe she really liked the film."

"You don't also think the magic in the film is possible, do you?" Ron asked him.

Harry thought about the Nose-Biting Teacup sold in the Zonko's Joke Shop, and the golem he had once seen practicing drama in Classroom Seven, which made him a bit uncertain, but he nodded against his will to accommodate Ron's mood.

In the evening, they returned from the library to the common room - much earlier than usual, but it could not be helped - as they wanted to celebrate their completion of the first book on alchemy, Ron and Harry played a thrilling game of wizard's chess, in which Ron cornered Harry with two formidable pawns, and Harry's white king already removed his crown from his head and held it in his hand, ready to throw at any moment.

"Your chess skills have regressed." Ron said.

Harry didn't respond. He stared intently at the board, hoping for a miracle. It turned out that a miracle did happen because Ron's pieces were too loud when they battered Harry's bishop, so both of them got kicked out by Mrs. Pince, the librarian.

...

They opened the door to the common room to find that even the fat lady had undergone some changes as Christmas approached, as she got a new outfit for herself, "Want to dance, Brave Champions?" She asked drunkenly, holding a box of wine and a heart chocolate box.

" I could recommend you a dance partner," Ron muttered, and whispered as they entered the common room, "His name is Barnabas, and he's a ballet teacher you can find him on the seventh floor, goodnight."

--

Note:

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Over the next few days, the young wizards were very keen on discussing the endless fancy film plots, and in the process, they commented on the professors in the school. The first and second years often looked at their seniors with envious expressions, sourly stating that the charms class Professor Flitwick, also had been very nice, and had allowed them to play games in their last class.

"That's really nice, especially when compared to the other professors ..." Seamus said with indignation as he worked on his Potions class assignment, both of his eyes looked red as if he hadn't gotten a good sleep.

The young wizards, even if they remained a little expectant about the serious Professor McGonagall, but they wouldn't be that unrealistic enough to think that Snape would allow his students to be noisy in his classroom. In fact, he had simply scheduled the antidote testing step to the last day before the holidays, making the young wizards tremble and not dare to slack off.

Sitting in the empty chair next to Seamus, Neville told him some secret tips.

"Pay particular attention to the number of mistletoe berries, or... your toad will never come back ..."

"I don't keep toads, you know, Neville."

Dean Thomas snickered from the side, "He's just voicing out his fears." He handed Seamus a small cookie, which he chomped off half of in one bite, and chewed fiercely before continuing to write his essay. Just then, all of a sudden, a flurry of feathers sprouted on him.

Dean snickered, "Fred and George's canary cookies can be bought for seven Silver-Sickles." He then stuffed the remaining half into his own mouth, so Neville found himself sitting between two huge canaries, and he glanced left and right, feeling overwhelmed by the stares.

The people in the common room looked at them, making Neville uncomfortable, so he grabbed a cookie in embarrassment and stuffed it into his mouth -

Everyone pointed at the three canaries and laughed, "Haha~" Angelina laughed so hard that tears came out of her eyes.

...

On the day before Christmas, Hogwarts finally welcomed the Christmas holiday.

It had been snowing heavily outside, so Felix and Niffler Valen were nestled on the sofa playing Exploding Snap cards, and Valen insisted on using a different style of play, so he watched as she used her short little hands to build up a deck of cards, "Are you building a nest for yourself?" He asked curiously.

Niffler's hand shook, and the cards lit up as if they had been ordered to do so.

Felix grabbed her with one hand and sat back down on the couch with her, then a " bang" was heard as one person and Niffler looked at the mushroom-like black smoke rising up.

"Looks like you've learned a lot." He said to Valen.

Felix opened the window and seven or eight owls of all sizes and colours flew in, all carrying packages and letters.

"It's Christmas tomorrow." Felix said to himself, "I guess there will be many greetings from readers will come soon, I have to write back quickly." He looked at the corner, where a small mountain of prepared gifts was piled up.

Valen watched as Felix unpacked the packages and letters from the owls and provided food and water for those long-distance visitors for a short rest, after which the owls flew off in succession, leaving only a few behind to rest.

When she turned back again, Felix was already sitting in a high-backed armchair behind the desk and began to write a reply.

"Let me see ..."

He opened a letter and after reading it, he took out a quill and parchment to reply quickly -

"Mr. Cyrus, I am glad to receive your letter. I have studied the scales of the Runespoor Snake you sent me and have been greatly intrigued by the hidden pattern on them, it is still difficult to say whether this pattern is related to their unique magic-like abilities or not, as it still needs to be studied ... I wish you all the best in your expedition to the Iranian plateau."

Felix put the letter into an envelope, and a brown owl jumped onto the table and extended its leg for him to tie his reply on. Valen handed her one last owl cookie, which it carried in its beak, and flew off into the blizzard with a flutter of wings.

This was followed by a second reply.

"Merry Christmas, Ms. Meg ... No, I have no plans for a new book at the moment; I will probably publish a small manual about ancient runes, which I am not exactly sure about ... Also, I don't think it would be a good idea to print my picture on the cover, but thank you for the suggestion."

The third letter wasn't so friendly, but Felix spotted the trap in advance and easily lifted the curse on it. Along with it, he kept the large red-brown bird that delivered the letter when it tried to leave, which now stood with its legs together in resignation. Felix then wrote the replay.

"Mr. Nameless, your pranks are as lame as your handwriting, also I don't want to waste my breath discussing any muggle issues with you; And I hope your messenger will deliver my return gift on time by Christmas Day."

Felix applied a nasty hex on the parchment, then hooked the letter on the large reddish-brown bird. "Go on, return to your master." He said with a smirk.

For the rest of the day after that, he became busy -

"Ms. Jane, thank you for your continued support. I'm not sure if you'll get this letter, the owls have never found you and returned them all back. Perhaps there is something concerning your identity that needs to be kept secret, and I understand that perfectly. The black market has been in a state of disarray lately, as far as I know, the Ministry of Magic is cracking down on illegal potions, and it may have something to do with a batch of wolfsbane potions that have been divulged ..."

"Mr. Vera, your granddaughter is doing very well, I'm prepared to raise her salary, so you should give up the idea of bringing her into the Ancient Runes Association. I believe that in less than two or three years, Clammy's income will surpass yours, and if you give it a little thought, you will find that what she is doing now is more rewarding, Mr. Vice President."

...

During the time he's writing the replay, Juria Edmund, Bethany Bach and Byers Bach came over for a visit, with Byers walking at the end with three large boxes in his clutch, as he huffed, and puffed.

"Professor Hap, this is a Christmas present for you ..."

Juria explained with a smile, " Byers insisted on carrying them all by himself, Bethany tried to help him carry them, but he refused."

Byers looked at him with some shyness, then he stammered, "Professor Hap, how many words have Valen learned?"

"Very few as of yet ... shouldn't be able to communicate with you - But you guys can play Exploding Snap cards, she's very good at classical play." Felix said.

Byers stared at the scattered exploding cards on the table in disbelief, "That's, uh ... Valen is pretty smart."

Felix sat on the couch with Juria and Bethany, and he brought out honey tea to serve the two: "Juria, you don't want to talk about some magic vs. non-magic debate in front of Bethany today, do you?"

"Of course not, it's mainly that Bethany wanted to visit you and bring a gift along with her." Juria said, he visited quite a few times recently, especially on the bright side he lost his wand, so he couldn't participate in the matter of champions' training, and because of that, he was relatively free on weekdays.

With nothing to do, he would come to Felix's office to discuss some of his views on the magical and non-magical worlds, and both of them had something to offer on that subject.

As they talked, Juria mentioned Byers, as he pointed his chin in Byers' direction and said, "He's now the captain of the champions."

"Then Graves ..."

Juria shook his head, "He doesn't have the right mentality to be a captain." He spoke of what had just happened, "We did catch an interesting scene when we arrived, the champion of Beauxbatons - the one whose last name is Delacour - wanted to invite your champion, but he already had a date for the ball."

"Was it Cedric Diggory?" Felix asked thoughtfully.

"That's right," Juria smiled, "she does have a lot of charms, but it doesn't always work ..."

--

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On Christmas morning, Felix heard a knock on the door, and it was Dobby.

"Merry Christmas, Generous and Mighty Mr. Hap!" Dobby the house-elf said enthusiastically as he stood at the door, wearing a brown vest with a dull yellow sock peeking out of its pocket, and he also held a purple knitted jumper in his hand.

Felix sobered up at once.

And asked tentatively, "This isn't a Christmas present from you, is it, Dobby? Actually, you don't need ..."

"Oh, no, Mr. Hap," Dobby said formally, "It's a gift from Mr. Harry Potter and his friends, Dobby went over there first ... you asked Dobby not to come too early or too late to find you without something urgent, sir. "

"I did say that." Felix said with a wink, gauging the time from the dim daylight outside the window, it would barely be six or seven o'clock, and Dobby would have arrived only earlier to visit Harry's dormitory.

"So ... uh, come on in."

He moved out of the way and Dobby's body disappeared from the entrance door for a moment and then when he reappeared he had an additional large brown bag in his hand.

"This is a gift brought by Dobby and the rest of the house-elves, all for Mr. Hap!"

In the room, Dobby said so. Then he fumbled through the large bag and grabbed a small gift box wrapped in blue wrapping paper, which he handed to Felix.

"What's this? Oh, a pair of socks, very nice." Felix looked at the socks in the package, which Dobby seemed to have chosen the blue colour he liked, and they were embroidered with black lightning bolts and silver orbs of light, corresponding to two of his well-recognized ancient magics.

"Dobby hand-knit them," said the house-elf with wide, round eyes, "Dobby went to several stores and always felt that the things there were not to his liking, so Dobby consulted with his other fellows and made the decision together."

"So all these are ... socks?" Felix asked, somewhat at a loss.

"That's right!" Dobby said happily, "All kinds of socks! We each picked our favourite colour, and Dobby took advantage because Dobby knows Mr. Hap likes blue!"

"Yes, you're right, I do like blue. Thank you so much, Dobby." Felix said, " Have you thought about how you're going to spend this year? I remember Remus said he was going to give you guys a week off-"

"Yes! Mr. Lupin is also a generous man, he gives the same holiday to house-elves." Dobby wept with excitement, "Dobby going to spend the holiday with Dobby's friends - all of them!"

"Good idea, I remember there are magic cameras in the company, remember to take some pictures then, and I wish you a Merry Christmas, Dobby."

...

Felix stayed in the office all day, he got a frightening amount of gifts and a considerably alarming amount of correspondence to answer.

In the occasional spare moment, he stood at the window and gazed out over the snow-covered Forbidden Forest in the distance.

Beauxbatons's carriage and Hagrid's hut were like different-sized pastries covered with crystallized sugar sprinkles. Only a pointy roof of Ilvermorny's quarters was visible as it poked out of snow, and Durmstrang's black sailing ship finally escaped the fierce breeze, locked firmly on the ice in the frozen Black Lake. The remaining Uagadou's delegation, who revered nature, chose the spot closest to the forbidden forest and built a row of huts out of wood - very much in the style of Hagrid's hut.

Felix stood on high ground where he could barely see the tracks left by people from other schools as they travelled to and from Hogwarts Castle, other than large expanses of white colour.

By the time the afternoon approached, there were more people, with far more people than in the previous two years added together.

Felix recalled how at Last year's Christmas, even after adding all the professors and students who stayed on campus, only one table was filled, while this year's Christmas barely changed from the normal school day.

It is due to the Yule Ball, as almost all the fourth year and above students chose to stay at school for the holiday, which made the Castle look like it was crowded.

But Felix knew that this was purely psychological.

He watched the students having a snowball fight for a while, and as the sky grew dark, Felix changed into his formal robe and looked at the time to walk out of the office.

At the door of the great hall, he saw Harry and Ron, who were looking eagerly at the large oak doors.

"Are you waiting for Miss Granger?" He asked.

"What? Uh, not really ... we haven't seen her either," Harry said, "we're waiting for Ron's brother."

"Percy Weasley?" Felix looked a little surprised.

"Yes," Harry said, gesturing at the awful robe Ron is wearing, "Mrs. Weasley bought Ron a new formal robe and asked Percy to bring it over because she heard Percy would attend on behalf of his boss, Mr. Barty Crouch."

Ron whispered from the side, "Mum should have put it in a Christmas parcel instead of asking Percy to bring it over. If she didn't think Piggy (Ron's owl) could bring that much stuff, she could have left that purple jumper at home instead... I mean, just in case Percy would forget it! His big brain wouldn't remember anything other than work ..."

At that moment, a loud voice came clearly to their ears from outside the oak door. "Is this your brother, Percy? He's certainly saying some interesting stuff." The man who spoke was Ludo Bagman, who tonight wore a bright purple robe with large yellow stars on it.

Percy Weasley walked alongside him, dressed in a brand-new navy blue robe, with a beaming smile. As soon as he saw the three men standing in the doorway, he walked over quickly, with a big smile on his face, as he shook Felix's hand vigorously.

"I really didn't expect the first person I would meet back on campus would be you, Professor Hap, and thanks for taking care of Penelope, I've been wanting to take the time to visit you. But I've been too busy lately, and as you may or may not know, I've been promoted from one of the multiple assistants to the most prominent one, and I'm substituting for Mr. Crouch today ..."

As he spoke, he elbowed Ron aside as if he hadn't seen him.

Harry grinned, he felt tempted to ask Percy if Mr. Crouch no longer calls him "Weatherby", but he resisted the temptation.

Ron stared at his body without saying a word, looking for a possible place where he could have hidden his robe. After a few seconds, he shouted angrily at Percy, "Where's my robe?"

"What?" Percy looked startled.

"The robe! The formal robe Mom bought for me!" Ron exclaimed. By the way, he looked, if Harry hadn't stopped him, he would have rushed over and strangled Percy.

The expression on Percy's face froze for a few seconds, then he magically pulled out a robe of the same colour as the one he is wearing, and Ron, who had been held back by Harry, froze in place.

"This is mine?" Ron asked incredulously.

"You have to thank Penelope for this, I did forget it when I came here, she was the one who reminded me." Percy said with a scowl.

Ron snatched up the brand new formal robe as he tenderly caressed the navy fabric on it, as he blurted without any thought, "You're living with her now?"

"Uh, not yet." Percy replied awkwardly.

"Then how did she remind you of that before you left the house?" Ron gave him a sceptical look.

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask!" Percy growled in a low voice, his face turning red, "If you still want your dress."

"Do you want me to put in a good word for her? It actually doesn't have to be that troublesome, Mom and Dad both like her." Ron said.

Percy's face seemed to have a tendency to turn purple while Ludo Bagman and Felix watched in silence, fortunately at that moment Harry pulled Ron, "Parvati and Padma are waiting for us." So they hurried in the direction of the lavatory.

"I remember you pulled out a small heart-shaped mirror before you left the house, it seems like some kind of sound transmission mirror? Why didn't you tell your brother that you hurried back to the office afterward? He seems to have misunderstood the situation." Ludo Bagman said.

Percy's face stiffened, and his expression grew wooden as he said, "Penelope accused me of having no sense of humor."

Bagman's eyes widened, "That's how you show humor?"

"What's wrong with that?" Percy glanced at him strangely.

"Ahem!" Felix interrupted their conversation, "Let's just get in early, about the sense of humour, Percy, I know a book title, I'll tell you later."

"Really?" Percy's eyes lit up, "That couldn't be any better." As they walked into the great hall, he still babbled in his defense, "I don't think I lack a sense of humour, in fact, we all have different definitions of humour ..."

Felix and Bagman accelerated their pace in unison.

--

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The great hall buzzed with noise.

The walls on all sides are covered with glittering silver frost, with a starry sky on the ceiling, and snowflakes drifting down from high above, disappearing before they reach the area above their heads.

Hundreds of flower fairies danced high in the air, sprinkling handfuls of colourful flakes down.

Felix stood at the door and looked around. The four house tables are gone, replaced with hundreds of small tables with candles lit on them, with about ten students seated at each table.

In front of the great hall, there is a long podium where the judges of the tournament are seated, and two faculty tables are symmetrically placed on either side of the podium for the Hogwarts professors and other guests who have come from afar to be seated.

In front of the podium and the faculty table are two large, spacious round tables that belong to the champions.

Bagman and Percy each approached the podium side by side, while Felix made his way to one of the faculty tables and sat between Snape and Professor McGonagall, Snape was still dressed in his black robes while Professor McGonagall wore a long red checked tweed robe with a wreath of thistle adorning the brim.

"Minerva, what a rare attire." Felix joked, "Severus on the contrary is unchanging ..."

Snape gazed at Felix, and watched him flip through a small menu placed on the table with interest, as he slowly said, "I don't remember you learning dance when you were at school, perhaps you could join me later on in my castle tour?"

"Oh, don't be such a killjoy." Professor McGonagall said.

Felix flipped the menu in his hand to the back as he stared at the top row of dessert names, "No problem, but I'm going to taste this first." He said, pointing to a small line of letters.

"Opéra?" Snape glanced at it and commented, "It's too sweet."

"Good name." Felix said with a smile.

After waiting a few minutes, Professor McGonagall got up and left, "I'm going to go organize the entrance of the champions." She said, as she braced the peaked cap on her head, and walked in stride towards a corner of the great hall.

In a small open space near the great hall, the champions and their partners were standing together, and Professor McGonagall explained to them how to enter: "Wait a little longer, and when the great hall is almost full, you will enter in a line, champions and partners together. You have to go through the great hall from the left aisle, and eventually turn a corner to sit on the big round table on the right side of the podium, understand?"

At that moment, Harry and Ron rushed into the great hall, Ron had finally changed into his new robes in the lavatory, so they rushed in the direction of the podium.

"This way! Potter, Weasley." Professor McGonagall shouted.

Harry and Ron froze in place and turned their heads woodenly to look at Professor McGonagall who had a stern expression on her face and the bunch of champions who were also looking at the pair in unison; the burly champion from Uagadou, Eliphendy, towered above Krum who stood next to him, and the considerably tall witch Nona Leibert who stood alongside them looked like a baby bird.

Harry and Ron walked back with their heads down, and as they passed Draco Malfoy, Draco shouted, "Potter, Weasley, are you practicing your dance steps and forgot the timing?"

His dance partner, Pansy Parkinson, let out a loud "tsk" sound.

Harry glared at them, Draco Malfoy was dressed in a black velvet high-collared formal robe, which looked like a country vicar, Harry secretly despised his aesthetics. As the duo made their way to the corner where the champions stood, both Patil sisters hooked their arms and looked at Harry and Ron with displeasure.

Professor McGonagall came striding over and said quickly, "Pair up, you two! No, do not stand together," she looked at Harry and Ron with a headache, "stand side by side with your partners, for goodness' sake, you don't understand what partners mean, do you?"

She stepped forward and separated Harry and Ron from each other, then she looked at the Patil sisters with a hesitant expression. She couldn't tell which is which for a moment, so she simply ordered, "Stand next to your dance partners, girls. You need a little tacit understanding ... frankly, it's a little late for that kind of talk."

Professor McGonagall quickly went to the front of the group once again, and they could barely hear Professor McGonagall's faint voice: "This ... Mr. Eliphandy, please stand with your pair, you are too close to Mr. Krum. Mr. Krum, where is your dance partner?"

"She is still on her way here." Krum said in a low voice.

Professor McGonagall looked not so happy as she made sure, "Are you sure she won't be late? I can find a temporary replacement if needed ..."

"No thanks." Krum said glumly.

Harry and Ron at the end of the line looked around, and Ron said incredulously, "I can't believe Krum does not have a date! He's a big star, what girl would stood him up? Oh, crap, Harry, stand in front of me ..."

He bent his knees slightly and hid behind Harry as Fleur Delacour looked toward the back. She looked stunningly gorgeous in her silver-grey satin robe and beside her, there is a tall, handsome boy, who Harry sort of recognized as a seventh-year Slytherin student, supposedly the Head Boy.

When Fleur looked back, Ron blushed and straightened up.

"Can't really blame you, she's gorgeous." Harry said unbiasedly; when Fleur invited Cedric in the entrance hall two days ago, Ron, as if he was possessed, went straight up and asked Fleur to be his dance partner, and failed justifiably.

Since then, Ron has been avoiding her, and he still hasn't gotten over it.

At that moment, a beautiful girl in a flowing light purple and blue robe came into the great hall and brushed past Harry and Ron. As she made her way next to Krum, she spoke quickly, as if apologizing for being late, but they were at the end of the line, so it was hard to hear exactly what she was saying.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Krum ... I was prepared ... hours in advance but ... Niffler gave me a return gift and I didn't expect ... too surprised ..."

"Niffler? Do you mean that magical creature that makes holes in the ground to dig for gold coins? It sent you a gift?" Krum's deep voice is recognizable, and it was deep enough to reach Harry and Ron's ears.

"Valen doesn't make holes in the ground! Oh, Valen is her name ... Yeah, she did send me a present ... I think it might be because I gave her a Christmas present first ... Maybe Professor Hap helped with the selection of it ...," the girl explained.

Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"That voice sounds a bit familiar." Harry said uncertainly.

"She also mentioned Valen and said that Valen had sent her Christmas presents, is that possible?" Ron looked at Harry hesitantly.

"If I heard correctly, she sent the present first ... Valen just returned the gift ... wait, I think I know ... "Harry's pace of speech got slower and slower, and his eyes moved from the girl in the flowing robes to Ron.

The two men looked at each other for two seconds and said in unison and with great surprise, "Hermione?" The guess left them in disbelief, they had no idea that the cute girl a dozen feet away would be the person they knew best.

Harry stared at the girl's back, she did not look anything like Hermione. But if it is true, she must have done something to her hair, they no longer looked messy, instead, they have become soft and shiny, and also an elegant bun pulled at the back of her head.

At this point Professor McGonagall walked to the front of the group and said to all the champions standing at the front entrance, "Champions please get ready, ladies hold the arms of the gentlemen, and enter like I said before."

The group started to move forward, while Harry and Ron were still trying to confirm whether Krum's dance partner is Hermione or not, they both felt their arms being pulled at the same time, they turned their heads and looked at their respective dance partners -

The two Patil sisters took their arms, with big smiles on their faces. Parvati fiddled hard with the gold bracelet on her wrist, lifted the hem of her pink skirt with her other hand, and said in a soft whisper, "It's our turn." With that, she dragged Harry forward with force.

The champions walked into the great hall in pairs and walked through the gaps between the small tables. The people in the great hall applauded enthusiastically, Fred and George whistled loudly, as Harry's nervousness calmed down slightly. They walked around the great hall in a small half circle and sat in order at the two large tables in front of the podium.

Their seats are very distinguished, as one male and one female are seated with a little gap between each other, everyone dressed up nicely, Harry found many familiar faces became more handsome and beautiful than usual.

Especially Hermione.

Harry finally identified Krum's dance partner, despite only seeing the side of her face, but he is too familiar with Hermione, it is just that when she removed the usual books she carried around, her temperament has completely changed, so he did not recognize her for a while.

When Hermione noticed their gaze, her head tilted over her shoulder as she waved at the two across a table as she smiled, Harry couldn't help but smile, Hermione's trademark big teeth were so conspicuous that he couldn't think of anyone else.

Hermione had complained to them before that her parents, as dentists, were resistant to the idea of making any connection between the words dental and magic, as well as the fact that she had never found the opportunity to get Madam Pomfrey to agree to adjust her teeth; left her teeth still like this.

...

The champions were the last people to enter the hall - and when they were seated, the dinner naturally began. Harry stared at the empty, gleaming golden plates. As he looked around, he saw Dumbledore carefully look at the menu in front of him, then at his plate, and said very clearly, "Pork chops!"

The pork chops immediately appeared.

It was then it dawned to the students, and they all picked up their small menus to choose their favourite foods.

Not far from Harry and his group, Roger Davies got sandwiched between Collins and Fleur, he looked left and right with a torn look on his face as Fleur criticized the décor and layout of Hogwarts to him and the Slytherin Head boy.

"It's hardly remarkable," she said contemptuously, looking at the sparkling walls around the great hall: "At Beauxbatons Castle, our hall was decorated with ice sculptures during Christmas. Of course, they don't melt ... and the food is superb. We also have a choir of mountain fairies who will quietly serenade us while we eat. ..."

The expression of both Head boy and Roger Davies next to her increasingly became entranced, and Harry guessed that they had completely failed to listen to what Fleur had actually said, and when Davies stuck his fork through his hair, Collins, next to him, grunted heavily.

He tried to smooth things over, as he stammered, "I think both schools have different beauties, Hogwarts' Black Lake has big squid, and in the summer you can swim in it and pretend to drown that way the big squid will come to help you; and Beauxbatons, I mean ... although I've never been there, but just from listening to Fleur's description you can know how beautiful it is."

As a result, he offended two girls at once, with both Collins and Fleur looking away from him, which made Davies a little embarrassed.

Collins moved her chair further away, as she leaned over to the next table and whispered to Ron, who sat closest to her, "Have you guys cracked the mystery of the golden egg yet?"

"What?" Ron asked dully, he was staring at Krum and Hermione - they seemed to have cleared up their misunderstanding and were having a fairly decent conversation so far.

When he looked back, Collins glared at him fiercely and his body went cold, his mind desperately trying to recall the question she just asked, "Uh, not yet, but soon, probably within the next few days."

Collins gave him a skeptical look as she quickly blurted out to Ron, "... if ... try the water ... "

"What did you say?" Ron didn't hear her clearly, so he asked in a hurry, but that's when Dumbledore stood up holding a goblet and Collins moved her chair back.

"What did she say, did you catch that?" Ron asked his nominal dance partner.

Padma Patil rolled her eyes at him and huffed, "I don't know."

"Ding!"

The crisp sound of a metal striking glass broke throughout the chaotic great hall and rang precisely in everyone's ears as the crowd quieted down, and they looked towards Dumbledore on the podium.

"Students, please stand up, I need to relocate your tables to make room for the dance floor." He said with a wide smile.

Then he waved his wand and all the tables flew "whoosh" against the wall, leaving an open space in the middle. The students stood with their dance partners, Harry noticed Parvati's arm around his arm again, so he tried to struggle twice, but could not break free.

Then Dumbledore cast a spell on the right side of the great hall, as a long and narrow stage appeared near the wall, with a set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and several organs.

The lights around the great hall completely dimmed, leaving only the central dance floor lit up.

"Students, professors, and foreign guests - enjoy the beautiful music!" Dumbledore opened his arms wide and said happily, at which point the Weird Sisters appeared onto the stage together as the crowd erupted with thunderous applause.

Dumbledore's left hand held behind his back, and his right hand extended an invitation to Madame Maxime, then they walked onto the dance floor and danced together along with the soft, soothing music.

Felix felt very grateful that he took a seat near the back of the podium and not within range of getting pulled over. As he settled comfortably on his chair, he watched with interest as the oddly dressed Weird Sisters group played instruments, and then he flipped his menu to the last page.

"Opéra." He pronounced it clearly.

The next second, delicately tempting chocolate and coffee glazed cake appeared in front of him, and when he raised his fork, he noticed a stern gaze.

"Do you know what you're supposed to do now?" Professor McGonagall said with pursed lips.

Felix froze for a moment and looked around, "Oh ..." he asked courteously as he stood up with a slight bow, "May I have the pleasure of dancing with you, ma'am?"

"Of course." Professor McGonagall smiled and held out her hand, "Drop the fork you're holding, Felix." She whispered.

The two walked towards the dance floor.

At that moment, Felix's mind worked at high speed, and everything in the great hall turned into slow motion - he could see Dumbledore holding Madam Maxime's hand, the tip of his peaked cap just touching her chin; Mad-Eye Moody dragged Professor Sinistra around, Professor Sinistra looked like an unfortunate arrested dark wizard, and he also saw Ludo Bagman was laboriously bending his stomach to invite Professor Sprout ...

He used his thought acceleration magic to the extreme.

Everything that happened in the great hall came into his mind. Basic poses, dance steps, hand-holding movements, matching beats ... By the time he had taken a dozen steps from the faculty table to the dance floor, he had gone from a layman to a rookie dancer.

"Waltz, Minerva?" Felix asked, casually flicking away a flower fairy that had flown down from the ceiling, the unlucky little creature stumbled and landed on the shoulder of a stiff-faced Harry.

"Of course." Professor McGonagall said.

The two danced, Felix while moving around, continuing to absorb the essence of the dance moves of everyone present, and he was surprised to find that the best dancer turned out to be Dumbledore.

Sure enough, being older is an advantage, Felix's head filled with strange thoughts.

A few minutes later, when the first song was over, Professor McGonagall smiled and said, "So you can dance, and dance so well, I thought you are new to this."

Felix wiped away the bead of sweat on his forehead unnoticed, "I really haven't practiced much before." He glanced in the direction of Snape, who remained standing at the edge of the hall, as he blended into the darkness.

The weird sisters' group in the corner played another jolly dance song. "Shall we continue?" He asked politely, glancing over her head as he saw Hagrid swallowing his Opéra cake in one gulp and headed toward Madame Maxime, who had parted from Dumbledore.

Professor McGonagall's eyes tinged with a smile, "It certainly seems like you're not familiar with these things, you can't spend the whole ball with one person, the wonderful girls are waiting."

"What?"

Professor McGonagall stepped back two steps, when a beautiful girl suddenly appeared before him, "Professor Hap?" Bethany blinked and looked at him with expectation in her eyes, so Felix offered his hand in a gesture of invitation, to which Bethany readily accepted.

The style of the dance changed completely, and Felix had to speed up his thoughts again, trying to capture the movements of the others, and in a few seconds, he was masterfully leading Bethany around the dance floor in a long, graceful arc.

By the end of the song, Bethany's face flushed red.

She gently stood on tiptoe and whispered, "You were a great dancer, and BTW ... thank you for saving me." The corner of her lips gently touched Felix's cheek.

Bethany fluttered away.

He looked up and found Fleur standing in front of him, "Are you good at this piece?" Fleur asked playfully. At this point, the weird sisters' group changed their play to a more lively and jumpy polka.

Felix: "... ok."

After swapping seven or eight dance partners, Felix found himself in front of someone who switched to Hermione.

"Oh, Professor, I saw it all from the side, you are dancing wonderfully."

"Thank you, more than one person said that."

Felix smiled, as he silently wished for no new tune, and when the music started, he felt relieved that he was finally able to relax without the need to speed up his thinking.

He waltzed across the dance floor, spinning and moving in circles with poise.

At the edge of the dance floor, Seamus and Dean sat at the table, eating their desserts. As Seamus said with a blank look, "I didn't realize that Professor Hap excelled at so many types of dances ... He should be the one who stayed on the floor for the longest time, right?"

"Yeah, how did he do that?" Dean also felt amazed.

"Who is that girl he's dancing with? Beauxbatons or Durmstrang's student?" Seamus asked with his eyes narrowed.

"What are you looking at, she's Hermione!" Dean exclaimed.

Seamus stared at Dean, who pointed towards the dance floor: "Look at her big teeth, they're obviously so obvious ..."

In the middle of the dance floor.

Hermione bit her lip as she asked in a quiet voice, "Did you know what Valen gave me as Christmas present?"

"I Know." Felix said.

" Is it your idea?" Hermione asked pointedly.

"Of course not," Felix explained, not quite understanding what she meant: "I spent the whole day unwrapping presents and writing back, and it was close to an evening when I realized that you had actually prepared a present for Valen as well, and she felt happy about it, since no one except me had thought about giving her a present, so she gave you something in return ..."

"But the gift is too precious!" Hermione said.

"Precious?" Felix laughed, "No, Granger, it is just a memento, I've researched it and there is no hope of getting it fixed."

"Yeah... But..." Hermione looked down as she thought about it.

At that moment, the ring on Felix's left hand hummed and twitched, to which he frowned.

"What is it, Professor?" Hermione asked with caution.

"It should be someone trying to contact me." Felix said calmly, and by now, the tune came to an end, with Felix taking the lead they completed the final set of moves, and he left the stage with Hermione by hand.

When someone else approached, with an eager look on her face. "Sorry." Felix politely declined.

He nodded at Hermione and hurried left, with a copper knut clenched between his fingers, this coin paired with the fever knut he had given to Dobby, to notify him in advance whenever Dobby intended to report his work by injecting magic into it.

But this time, the coin burned so hotly that he wondered if it might melt.

Felix quickly walked out of the great hall and reached the courtyard, "Snort!" A soft sound was heard, and the figure of Dobby suddenly appeared, he looked very flustered, and his big eyes filled with fear.

The most crucial thing is that he also carried a fainted house elf on his back.

After confirming that Dobby is okay, Felix felt somewhat relieved. Then he half crouched down and examined the house elf that was brought over by Dobby, which, from his perspective, should be a female house-elf.

"What's going on, Dobby?" He asked mildly.

"Dobby, Dobby isn't sure! Dobby only thought of inviting friends for Christmas, and Dobby knew that Winky got an owner, so Dobby deliberately picked a very late hour, when they should all be asleep, and Dobby learned that Winky's master is not feeling well ..."

--

Note:

This is 2 in 1 chappy, so there'll be only one chappy tomorrow.

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"Is Her name Winky? Who is her owner? And what happened to you?"

Dobby's big eyes flowed with hot teardrops, and he shuddered, "Yes, Her name is Winky, Dobby met Winky a long time ago when Dobby still belonged to the Malfoys. ..." He shivered.

"Keep talking, Dobby."

"Her owner is Mr. Crouch, Barty Crouch Sr. --" Dobby stated, to which Felix frowned. Then Dobby said, "Dobby got to Mr. Crouch's house, and it was dark, but Dobby had been there before and knew the way ... Dobby found Winky, but Winky was frightened and told Dobby to leave quickly when Dobby wasn't sure why our talking had woken the owner of the house."

"You mean Barty Crouch?"

"Dobby wasn't sure!" The house-elf shuddered, "It was so dark that there weren't even any magic lamps there! They're so out of date!"

Felix nearly laughed at that, but it was good that Dobby got to the point.

"I heard a cold voice ordering: something broke in, a dirty house-elf, KILL THEM." Dobby's eyes widened: "Dobby had never heard a voice THAT COLD EVER! Then the next second, Mr. Crouch came out, and he cast a spell on us, and not just me, but Winky too!"

"Hex?"

"No, not that ... glaring green light, full of death, that Curse!"

"Killing Curse?" Dobby kept nodding with his eyes closed, and Felix's eyebrows jumped sharply.

"And after that? You escaped?"

"After that ... the curse missed, Then Dobby used the defensive item given by Mr. Hap to block a very powerful Severing Charm, then Dobby took Winky and ran, but Winky refused to go, and tried to plead with Mr. Crouch ... Dobby can't leave Winky alone! Dobby... Dobby then knocked Winky out."

Dobby's slender chest rose and fell, as he spoke under his breath. He shivered and rummaged through his pocket for a dull yellow sock, from which he pulled out a dull amulet, its surface cracked inch by inch and clearly no longer usable.

Felix crouched down and stroked the cobweb-like cracks that covered the amulet, then he gestured toward the unconscious house elf.

"Rennervate."

Winky's slender nose moved, she blinked her eyelids hard and opened her big brown eyes as she sat up shakily. She looked around with a little bewilderment, her mind not quite awake. When she saw Dobby and Felix crouching beside her, her eyes suddenly went wide, and she let out a loud scream-

"Winky has to go back! Winky has to leave here!"

Her body suddenly became illusory. Felix raised his finger slightly, and then the elf kept flickering as if she had bad signals, nevertheless she could not get out from this area.

Dobby looked at Felix with awe as he said in a loud, squeaky voice, "Winky, we're safe."

"No, Winky needs to go back, back to the master!" She struggled desperately.

Dobby said loudly, "You don't have a master anymore, he wants to kill you, think about it!"

Winky's slender body froze, as if being compressed, then her round nose jerked, as she stubbornly said, "No, never--"

"Master needs care, he's very sick!" She cried out.

Dobby shouted in a voice louder than hers, "He didn't show any signs of illness when he attacked us!"

"Because the master had to take care of young Master Barty, who was extremely sick, he felt he had done something bad and wronged his son ..." Winky trembled and tears rolled down her face, "Oh, Winky shouldn't have said that, Winky is a bad elf!"

She screamed and rolled in the dirt, startling a few students coming out of the great hall in the distance.

"Young Master?" Felix said softly, as he mused, "Is it Barty Crouch Jr.? Wasn't he imprisoned in Azkaban and has been dead for years as far as I know ..."

"Winky!" He stopped the elf who was punishing herself and said in a soothing voice, with mesmerizing silver eyes calming her down, "Listen to me, your master is in trouble, and only you can help him," then he added, "and so is your young Master Barty. But to help, I need to know the truth."

Winky stared at Felix blankly with wide eyes and kept mumbling under her breath, "Young Master Buddy is innocent, he was put in Azkaban by Master, but Master can't forgive himself, so he chose to atone for his sins ..."

Her state is really frightening, like a soulless shell, repeating these words over and over again.

As she spoke, an eerie light flashed through Winky's pupils.

"What's wrong with Winky?" Dobby rubbed his fingers uneasily, "Mr. Hap, Dobby did hear a cold voice, but saw no one else ..."

"She was under a spell ... not exactly an Imperius Curse, I guess it was Confundus Charm." Felix said.

Dobby startled, "Confundus Charm? Winky is under a Confundus Charm?"

Felix placed his wand against Winky's chest and whispered, "Offero." He switched his perspective, and in a gray background, wisps of red light streamed up from the elf.

He put away his wand, and Dobby stared at Winky as he asked uneasily, "The spell is lifted? How's Winky?"

Felix breathed a sigh of relief, "Let's see."

Winky looked as if she had just woken up from a nap, she blinked and then let out a desperate cry.

"Master Buddy, you are a bad boy!"

Felix had to take Winky by the shoulders as she kept shaking her head and flopping on both legs while screaming in sadness. His eyes shone silvery as he said in a deep voice, "Winky, do you have anything to say?"

Winky's eyes widened as huge pearls and tears flowed like a stream, but she refused to say anything.

Having no choice, Felix released her.

He commanded, "Dobby, take Winky to rest, she's had a very stimulating night." He gestured toward Winky, whose expression quickly softened, and she quickly fell asleep, only to have her eyes still fluttering restlessly beneath her lids.

Felix made complex runes on the air, forming complex magical signs and imprinting them on Winky's body. "Mr. Hap?"

"She can't leave for the time being, I blocked her ability to use magic, Dobby, it's going to be hard for you to take care of her for a while, and try to satisfy all of her needs."

"As ordered, Mr. Hap." Dobby replied. He picked up Winky and prepared to leave, then his expression became very hesitant: "What do you think, sir? Do you need Dobby to ask Winky about Mr. Barty Crouch's secret?"

"No need," said Felix: "I'll ask ... him personally," he said in a very complicated tone: "I just saw a very interesting vision."

"What did you see?"

"A baby." Felix said enthusiastically.

--

Thanks for all your love and support.

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In the late-night, at a slightly desolate hill.

Between the hills, an old house covered with ivy towered, with the glow of magic all around. Felix ignored it, he glanced at the dark window on the top floor and lightly pushed the door open, it was quiet inside.

He passed a shadowy corridor, at the end of which there's an ancient door.

As he got closer, he heard some noise, a kind of huffing and puffing bellows, wispy like a dying patient. There were other sounds heard from within, like vials and bottles fiddling sound, followed by the sound of liquids being poured into vials.

"Bring the potion here!" An icy voice ordered.

Felix heard the sound of liquid being gulped down the throat, along with a painful groan from inside, the man who was drinking the potion is suffering a tremendous agony, and it took him a while to settle down.

"You better hope your son has intercepted that elf or you're the one who's going to suffer ..." The cold voice seemed to be talking to someone, but Felix didn't hear any response, so he tapped his forehead lightly, and from a magical perspective, he saw three magical sources.

One is slightly normal, but the other two ... are alarmingly evil.

Barty Crouch, Voldemort, and a dark wizard? What makes Voldemort's special state distinct, and why was Dumbledore not optimistic about this trip?

Felix's mind wandered with thoughts, as the communication mirror wobbled in his pocket. Then he raised his wand and aimed it in the direction of one of the more distinct magical fluctuations, black arcs of electricity kept accumulating at the tip of the wand, ready to strike in the blink of an eye.

"Who's out there?" The icy voice asked.

"Go!"

Black lightning bolt swiftly passed by and penetrated the wooden door, at the same time, Felix pushed the crumbling wooden door open as he entered the room. His body shone with various protective items, and he wore a trench coat made of dragon hide mixed with basilisk skin.

In the room, a magic barrier blocked his lightning, Felix brought everything in the room into his focus.

It is a modest room. Barty Crouch stood behind a chair, which was no surprise. On the chair, there is a swaddling cloth, in which an infant that looked like a skeleton, without a trace of hair on its head or body, and its body appeared as if it is covered with scales, and its skin looked dark and reddish, like tender flesh that had been wounded.

Its arms and legs were thin and limp, and its face looked like a flat snake face, with two narrow slits where the eyes should be, from which a seeping red light radiated.

"Mr. Voldemort, I have to say, despite being prepared, I was still startled when I actually saw you."

Felix said kindly, but his eyes were fixed on the corner of the chair, where a large snake, which measured at least twelve feet long, and at the moment it is crawling up Barty Crouch's leg, the snake is smart enough to hide most of its body behind Crouch, and it hissed as its head poked out from Crouch's neck.

Felix's initial target was that snake.

That big snake had more magic in it than the weak, baby-like Voldemort in front of him! He had previously misjudged the right person based on his magic perspective, no, perhaps he was right ...

Horcrux.

Felix's mind flashed with a word.

Voldemort actually used a living creature as his Horcrux, and he didn't consider that when the creature died, its soul would dissipate together with the fragments of his soul?

He gained a true understanding of Voldemort's insanity.

"Take Nagini and leave first." Voldemort, who had been sitting in his seat, ordered.

At that moment, a black lightning bolt abruptly appeared and went straight towards Barty Crouch, to be precise, the snake head on the right side of his neck.

"Zizi Zizi!"

After a tooth-aching sound of electricity, the black lightning was forcibly deflected, which tore a hole in the wall and sprinkled sparse moonlight in.

Felix stared at Voldemort, who wheezed heavily, his chest booming with a bellows again. But this is already impressive enough for a temporary body built of potion and magic to block his attacks twice in the nick of time.

He did not intercept them any further, Barty Crouch had disappeared with the snake. There is someone waiting for them outside, I wonder if Voldemort will vomit blood when he finds out.

Morbid white flames slowly emerged from behind him, Felix looked at Voldemort and asked with interest, "You actually decided to personally intercept me, which is very different from my impression of you ... they are quite important to you?"

"What makes you have this ridiculous idea?" Voldemort said slowly, the previous two spells made him overwhelmed, his baby-like carcass leaning on the back of the seat, like a puddle of talking meat.

He said in a very hoarse voice: "If you had experienced my experience, felt my despair, you would realize that even a puppet, a humble elf, should not easily be discarded ..."

"I guess so, as you don't have enough manpower." Felix nodded slightly, and the reason why Winky could survive became clear. The flames behind him continued to spread, and he stepped forward with one foot, and the Breathtaking fire poured downward like flowing water, starting with his toes and running wildly out towards the left and right sides.

Two fire snakes converged behind Voldemort and linked into a standard circle, circling the seat in which Voldemort had been sitting. Then the flames streamed upward, like a chain of white fire ropes intertwined, woven into an airtight net.

In this net, whether it is an Apparition or a Portkey, it would be difficult to activate.

"To be able to wield the Fiendfyre to this extent, you can be ranked at the top of my echelon." Voldemort said lightly, he showed zero intent of fleeing, as if he just wanted to talk to Felix.

Felix looked at him calmly, once he had tried Dumbledore's power, so he knew he couldn't afford to be careless now. But inevitably, a question rose in his mind: why Voldemort did not block him? Could he be incapable of doing so?

"You're wondering why I didn't fight back?" Voldemort's sickening voice resounded again, " There is no need to have any concerns, I can't do a thing in my current state, dear fellow ... a few months ago, I was still wandering in the Albanian forest, possessing those small animals for a long time, it all wearied me down, but there was nothing I could do, at that time I was worse than the lowest of the wandering souls ... but that was the only way I could find a glimpse of being alive."

"Until Peter Pettigrew found you."

Felix stated, and in his magical perspective, as far as his field of vision could reach, there existed only one source of magic that is Voldemort. There are no Portkeys, no magical traps, only Voldemort's own weak but deeply evil magic wreaking havoc and distorting his perspective.

He suddenly realized why Voldemort wanted to talk to him so badly because he had no means of resistance now.

"Yeah, until Peter Pettigrew found me ..." said the hoarse, icy voice, "a cowardly, weak-minded servant, and as much as I hate to admit it, if he had been still here, I would have had an easier time than I do now. What a pity." He sounded like he had lost a napkin that is still usable.

"Peter Pettigrew was taken away by the Ministry of Magic, and he was kissed by a Dementor." Felix stated.

"I'm well aware ... he's gone and won't outlive more than a week," Voldemort said coldly, "I've experimented and tried to prolong that kind of thing as long as I can, but the results are often not as satisfactory as they should be. "

"While you were still at your peak?" Felix said.

"It's just some boring game. When all your servants are gone out to spread your glory, you need to find something for yourself, some of my servants ... Bella liked to torture people, but I got tired of it, and I preferred to study dark magic, the dark arts, they are as fascinating as a deep astral night with no stars... ..."

Voldemort said in a long, pithy voice. His voice was not as harsh as it was at first, perhaps because of the tone of voice, Felix could not help but associate it with an academic conference.

At that time, Voldemort slowly said: "My friend, widen your flames a little, we have plenty of time."

Felix remained unmoved on the contrary the flame cage pushed down even lower, his control over the Fiendfyre is extremely high, so except for the charred circle on the floor, the other items in the room are perfectly unscathed.

"Don't you have something to say? I'm still listening, but forgive me I have very limited patience."

Voldemort let out a snort, "I once thought of you as a second Dumbledore, but you don't have his patience ..."

"Voldemort, you have been praised for your achievements in dark magic, but you can not beat Dumbledore, and you know what people say about you two? He is the only person you fear. I'm curious, would you have acquiesced to this kind of statement to spread if you hadn't been taught a real lesson?"

"Dumbledore ..." Voldemort chewed on the name, his voice growing even colder, "That old man hides himself so well that everyone is fooled by him, he's a brilliant hypocrite. "

He scowled at Felix and grinned with ridicule, "Maybe all of you treat him like an old man who can just talk nonsense?"

" Isn't that right? He's well over 100 years old." Felix asked as he picked out his words to the point, as the words are valuable to both him and his enemy.

Voldemort made a contemptuous voice, but he didn't follow Felix's lead in the conversation. "I've gotten to know you in great detail ... Felix Hap; I was surprised to find that we come from very similar backgrounds," he said softly, "We both had no choice but to live in a muggle orphanage, equally gifted, but subjected to strange looks-"

"I'm sorry to break it to you, but I was happy in the orphanage." Felix interrupted him.

"I see, Muggle researcher ... how ironic, you're like the opposite of me." The slit in Voldemort's eye flashed red and his tone filled with nostalgia, "I actually had hopes of being your colleague now, and according to your age, I might as well be your professor. Unfortunately, Dumbledore rejected me without any consideration." Voldemort said with deep emotion. "He always did."

"You must have been very naughty when you were a child to make him have such a bad impression of you." Felix said teasingly.

Voldemort's squinted eyes opened and his face, which looked like a skeleton, became vivid and twisted. "Another, another one of his brainwashed peeps, Felix Hap, I have no desire to kill you all of a sudden, I'd like to see what he'll do to you when you clash with him. From what I understand, you're not a nice person to talk to ..."

Felix's eyes shined as he gauged him, "Is this the trait required to become the Dark Lord? Arrogance and ambition beyond the norm?"

"It's confidence and a Vision." Voldemort corrected.

"Well," Felix said mildly, "then, I need you to follow me back, you better share this with Dumbledore face to face, you must have a lot more personal things to say."

"There will be that day, but not today, I will deliver a rousing speech in front of his corpse." Voldemort said.

Felix opened his hands, then fiercely closed them, and the morbid white Fiendfyre converged toward the center, condensing into a long, eerie white sword that dropped violently.

He took a few steps back at the same time, with his eyes narrowed to see what else Voldemort had up his sleeve, but unexpectedly, the white fiery longsword went straight through Voldemort's chest, with flames splashing everywhere, staining Voldemort's swaddling clothes, creeping all over his torso, "crackling" and burning violently.

In the fire, Voldemort let out a seeping scream, the slit-like red eyes opened to the limit, and the blood-red eyes stared dead at him.

"Besides Dumbledore and her, you are the third person to bring me the feeling of death, I will remember you, Felix Hap!"

He shouted harshly, as his whole body turned into the firewood for the Fiendfyre, Felix stared at him, as a nebulous shadow rose from above the flames, he looked like smoke condensed without a solid mass.

If he is in the flames, he takes the flames as his body, and in the water, he takes the water as his murky figure.

"You cannot kill me, and I will return at any moment--" The illusory shadow twisted and hissed in pain.

"Whoosh!"

A dazzling green light pierced through the Shadow, and it hit the air as if the Killing Curse had no effect on it. Then, Felix's eyes flashed with silver light, as the thinking room and the Legilimency was used in turn, the effect was still close to nothing.

Tough call.

Felix's thoughts revolved in his mind, his magic was useless against Voldemort's shadow, and then he recalled some words.

Worse than the lowest of the wandering souls ...

But his hand remained firm, this is his first meeting with Voldemort, and both of them were slightly surprised. When Voldemort guarded his Horcrux, Felix deliberately feigned ignorance, he did not know if Dumbledore had succeeded, and if he failed, he would have to make an absolute killing arrangement for their next meeting.

At the same time, Voldemort was forced to stay behind and use his body as bait. But his current state is simply powerless against Felix, he has long been ready to lose this body, which is nothing to him, So he used that opportunity to talk with Felix instead, to see if he could alienate the relationship between Dumbledore and him.

Felix then used this rare opportunity to skilfully cast spells - zooming spell, black lightning, green mist, milky white light, golden flame ... One powerful magic after another appeared in the Crouch House as he released his magic as freely as possible, the light of magic exploded with a myriad of radiant colours.

He tested the weakness of Voldemort's remnants, but Voldemort ignored all these magic, and flew straight through the silver shield, floating above the ceiling that had a large hole in it, and said with ridicule.

"That's a lot of tricks, but one magic is enough to kill someone!"

He cast a hazy, malevolent glance and rushed into the gray sky, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

After a moment of silence, Felix exhaled gently.

"When I finish the Book of Rune and research a magic rune formation that targets you, let's see how you can still run." He said with a bit of dissatisfaction, but he had realized that he could hardly deal with Voldemort in this state.

Voldemort at this moment is still too far from a real living being, so that means any normal means simply cannot be effective against him, and there is no historical information targeting this state of magic.

Perhaps this is why when Dumbledore knew that the remnants of Voldemort wandered into the Albanian forest, he did not do something about it.

"Magic ... memories ... emotions ... projection of existence, which is his true nature? In the middle of life and death, relying on the help of Horcrux to leave a shadow behind to stay here, if we destroy all the Horcruxes before he is reborn, is it possible to make him lose his reliance on the reality?"

Felix mulled over, when he saw the Herpo the Foul's Horcrux decay, he thought something similar.

He was not worried when Voldemort ignored many of his spells, because he knew Voldemort was in a special state, so neither of them could do anything about the other. Judging from Voldemort's eagerness to escape, he must also have an unknown weakness.

He thought quietly until a silver shadow suddenly appeared and descended into the ruins.

Felix raised his arm, the silver phoenix Patronus fell on his slender fingers, Dumbledore's gentle voice heard: "He escaped and went underground ... but I intercepted Barty and the snake."

The phoenix after saying it disappeared into a silvery mist.

"But it's really you." Felix said as he stared at a picture frame on the table in the middle of the ruins in which Barty Crouch embraced his wife and a handsome-looking young man stood beside him on the right side.

He already knew who is the spy in the castle.

Felix turned around and walked out of the house, behind him the Fiendfyre raged like a dragon, seething and roaring, and swallowed the house clean in one gulp, he threw the picture frame into the fire as well and stood in the cold wind of the late-night, staring at the raging Fiendfyre which baring its gaping fangs and claws.

"Isn't it sad that there's no one to promote your name, Voldemort?" He said playfully.

Felix raised his wand high and mouthed the incantation that he had received from Lucius Malfoy, "Morsmordre!" A green light soared out and flew high into the air.

A large skeleton, composed of countless turquoise star-like things, a large python emerged from the mouth of the skeleton, like a tongue. The skeleton rose higher and higher, glowing brightly in a cloud of greenish smoke, against the dark night sky, like a new constellation.

In the distance, Dumbledore's figure appeared, he shook his head, not quite approving of Felix's approach, but he did not stop him either, it should let the Ministry of Magic have some sense of caution.

Then he turned to leave, there are too many things to deal with tonight, at least, there is still a spy in the castle, he wondered if he could catch him in time. Barty was also badly injured, the only pity was that the snake died so crisply, and it turned out to be a Horcrux, he hadn't heard that information at all in the communication mirror.

Felix waved his hand, and then the Fiendfyre faded out, leaving ruins all over the place.

He took a big step forward and disappeared abruptly in the cover of the mountain forest, leaving only a low voice drifting in the dark night sky.

" The next time I see you, Voldemort, I hope you will regain your body completely..."

...

A few minutes ago -

Hogwarts Castle, Gryffindor dormitory, Harry jolted out of bed with a splitting headache.

--

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