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?

17. 513

Harry Potter: A Certain Ancient Rune Professor of Hogwarts #Chapter 513: Magic Photo - Read Harry Potter: A Certain Ancient Rune Professor of Hogwarts Chapter 513: Magic Photo Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT

Old Blake Mansion, dining room.

"Alastor," Mrs. Weasley said, emerging from the kitchen downstairs with a vegetable salad and a plate of chicken legs, "I made it with the leftovers, the vegetable soup is not as fresh as it was last night."

"It's good enough." Moody said calmly, the blue magic eyes stared at the salad for a moment before he took a big bite. "Oh, by the way," he looked over at Neville, "Frank and Alice will be back about noon, and they passed me a piece of information that's valuable."

Neville nodded, his eyes brightened.

"What is the information?" Harry couldn't resist asking.

"I can't reveal any more than that, in case you guys get caught by the Death Eaters and forced to confess, it will be all over--" Moody said gruffly, staring at a chicken leg while bringing it to his nose and sniffing it, "Thanks, Molly. " Then he tore it fiercely.

Harry wasn't sure which looked more wretched - his mangled nose, or the chicken leg that had been bitten. Or Moody's imagination of them being caught and tortured by Death Eaters?

"Don't think I'm joking, a lot of people think they can hold up and be firm, but all it takes is one Cruciatus Curse--" Moody said with a grimace, gesturing toward them as the young wizards at the table leaned back in unison.

Mrs. Weasley looked at him with a reproachful gaze.

Moody had already picked up a second chicken leg. "Molly, they can take it, I've heard they train a lot, it can't be just to show off in dueling class, is it? I'm just introducing them to the more realistic world ... You all want to be Aurors, right?" His one normal eye looked at the crowd.

Harry, Ron, and Neville nodded, Hermione hesitantly nodded as well, and unexpectedly, Ginny did the same.

Mrs. Weasley looked shocked.

"Ginny, you're only in your third year! It's too early to think about that."

"It's not too early, I'll be in fourth grade when school starts."

"I said it's early! You're a girl, and I will never allow-" Mrs. Weasley said angrily.

The dining room became very lively in the next few minutes as Ginny made a loud noise arguing with Mrs. Weasley, her hair flopping around like an angry, cranky cat, and Crookshanks, who had been lying at her feet, returned to his master's side, his flat, hairy face staring at the two sources of noise.

Ads by Pubfuture

"We're going to head upstairs." Hermione shot a wink at Harry and the group, wanting to escape the fray, but Ginny left before them, stomping up the stairs with a "thud" and Mrs. Weasley chased after her, looking like she wanted to convince her to change her mind by one way or another.

"So we're, uh - going to the training room?" Hermione stood still and looked at her companion with uncertainty, she didn't really want to train yet, she simply wanted to get away from Professor Moody's darting magical eyes.

The others shared a similar feeling, and they stood up nimbly.

"Are you all right, Potter?" Moody gruffly asked.

"I'm fine." Harry did not say the truth, he hesitated to reveal to Ron and the rest of the group that he had mastered the three unforgivable curses, and on the other hand, he began to worry about what Dumbledore would think when he saw his memories, his mind jumbled up and down.

He suddenly got a bright idea.

"Professor Moody, I have a question," Harry said, then noticed Moody's gaze moved over to him, " Aurors were once approved to use the Unforgivable Curses ... did the situation really get that bad? And won't the curse affect you guys?"

" Oh, you mean that." Moody muttered, taking out the flask from his waist and taking a sip, "That was something that happened at the later part of the war, when it was really tough, mainly because the Death Eaters were gaining more and more subordinate to fight, or rather, more and more people were forced to join ..."

"The real Death Eaters are elite and can meet the You-Know-Who directly, but there are quite a few - such as werewolves - who do not have a high status in the Dark Lord's ranks, but in any case, the war has been fought for almost ten years, people's hearts more or less destroyed, Barty ... he was definitely a tough guy, many people can keep holding on just because of him ... he suggested to the new Minister Bagnold back then to allow Aurors some privileges, such as the ability to use Unforgivable Curses against Death Eaters, and some other miscellaneous things, all in order to let Aurors be liberated ... and Bagnold agreed, very bold witch, way better than the last one for me."

" But, is this really necessary?" Harry asked eagerly, "I mean, a disarming charm or a stunning spell are enough to subdue the enemy, no?"

Moody stared at him for a moment and laughed jarringly. His face became even grimmer.

" To put it bluntly, a disarming charm can also be used to kill someone, if you use it with an intent to Srew their head or other body parts off their body - you just need to believe, if they have their head they'll harm you," Moody said gently and gruesomely, "only back in 1717, all three of these curses were classified as unforgivable curses, with harsh penalties attached to their use, and after few years people rarely heard about it. Of course, they have not disappeared by any means, as they have been kept alive by dark wizards. ..."

"It was You-Know-Who that brought them back to the public eye. The Death Eater and his vassals used those curses blatantly, together with the overwhelming publicity in the newspapers, the curses become well-known, and Barty wanted to change the situation, he thought - The curses are necessary to restore the confidence of the public, and the Killing Curse is certainly more deterrent than the Disarming Charm."

"Then you--" Harry stuck, he did not know how to ask further.

"You want to know if I've ever killed anyone with a Killing Curse? Or what it feels like when you kill someone?" Moody asked quietly.

Harry stammered, and the others remained silent.

Ads by Pubfuture

"Of course, I've done it, cursed a lot of people to death with the Killing Curse, I remember it well, that's how that Death Eater named Evan Rosier died ..." Moody showed a sick grin, "but I tried to catch people alive whenever I could manage, because of it Azkaban filled with quite a lot of acquaintances of mine, but unfortunately a group ran away a month ago." He muttered a small voice, which sounded like a curse.

Or maybe Harry heard it wrong, it could be possible that Moody had a sudden craving for Fudge Flies, which are a type of milky fudge.

"As for the feeling, there is really nothing to feel ... war was at its peak, you can't afford to waste your time thinking too much and risk both your and your friends' life." Moody said dismissively, "Your heart has to be hard enough and with enough experience, you can--"

Footsteps came from upstairs. Mrs. Weasley came down, and Moody picked up a chicken leg and gnawed on it again.

That seemed to be the end of the conversation.

"Oh, by the way, I have something here that might interest you." He said, pulling a well-worn magical photo out of his pocket. Harry saw a small group of people moving around, some waving, some raising their glasses.

"It's-" Mrs. Weasley walked over to look at it and frowned.

"The original Order of the Phoenix," Moody said quietly, "you've seen it, haven't you? I'm not sure if you have, but there used to be a handful of copies back then." He said to Mrs. Weasley, "Both of your brothers were good men, but unfortunately they died young ... I went to see Emmeline yesterday, and oh, she's fine, just wounded--"

He noticed that Harry and the gang wanted to ask a question, so he spoke in advance. Mrs. Weasley's lips pursed tightly.

" Did she wounded during that baiting mission?" Harry asked mildly, he knew that person, Emmeline; she is a demure and elegantly dressed witch, not much of a talker. She is also a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Harry had met her a few times before.

"It seems you know about that mission... Oh right, you guys are there for the prize, so there is no way to bypass you." Moody said.

Harry's heart smashed like a fallen vase. He had heard Ms. Bones talk about it, how the Weasleys were both replaced at the time, but he hadn't at all expected the replacement to be Emmeline Vance from the Order of the Phoenix, and she was wounded.

"She was lucky, back then we couldn't even find a full body or just a part of a body ..." Moody seemed to notice that Mrs. Weasley forced herself to keep quiet, so he handed the photo to Harry, "You keep it, James and Lily's photo might be impossible to find in Godric's Hollow... I've been there once, which is currently abandoned."

Harry forced a smile, not knowing what to say.

He caught a glimpse of his mom and dad, who are smiling at him, and Harry suddenly longed to make a trip to Godric's Hollow. As he lay in bed that night, that idea grew stronger and stronger, and it felt strange how he hadn't thought about going there previously.

--

#Jake Vand and #Hidan Flo, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 586 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

Ads by Pubfuture

The next day, Felix appeared at the Sword Castle and occupied a wide testing room alone, then he stood on the transfigurated wooden platform, and stared at a ten-foot-tall golem. This tall golem was hand-picked by him as one of the defense forces of the Sword Castle, to actively protect the public in the event of sudden danger.

The design is similar to the golem that Felix used previously for teaching at Hogwarts, but it is definitely more complex and has better protection measures. And Felix also tried to give it some basic intelligence. He had done something like that a long time ago, and to this day he still has that set of opera troupe golems in his ring.

However, before assigning them the guard duty, more precise commands need to be given to them, as it would be bad if the golem malfunctioned on the battlefield due to an oversight, or worse, if it couldn't distinguish the enemy from friends all of a sudden ... these issues need to be considered in advance.

Near noon, Clammy hurried in with a surprised face: "Dum- Headmaster Dumbledore is here!"

Felix looked down in surprise.

...

Outside the sword castle.

"Felix, I would like you to come with me to the Ministry of Magic." Dumbledore said in a deep voice, "To the Department of Mysteries."

When the two reappeared, they had arrived at the Ministry of Magic's visitor's entrance. With a creak, the red phone booth slowly descended and Felix asked the question on his mind, "What the hell is going on?"

"Amelia found two prophecies, I pretty much guessed what one of them was and wanted to let you know." Dumbledore said briefly.

Department of Mysteries, Hall of Prophecy.

It is as tall as a school great hall but does not look empty due to the fact that the room is stacked with rows and rows of towering shelves filled with gray prophecy orbs, it looks like a very strange library. Except for three people, Felix, Dumbledore, and Ms. Bones, everyone else was kicked out for the time being, and Sirius reluctantly stood guard at the door with two Aurors.

"Almost fifteen years ago, you should have heard a prophecy?" Ms. Bones asked.

Dumbledore hesitated for a second before he nodded slightly and said, "That's true."

"Is this it?" Ms. Bones asked, pointing to a dusty shelf, Dumbledore leaned down and stared at a small glass orb on the shelf, it is dirty as if no one had cleaned it for many years, and glowing faintly like a firefly.

Felix's gaze went to the other side, where there is a prophecy closely related to him, he had speculated many times, but still could not sort out the whole picture. Mainly because the key information is too vague, and plausible, with multiple possibilities.

Previously he had studied that prophecy for a while and then left it behind.

Felix focused his attention on Dumbledore, who is reading the yellowed label under the glass orb. It bore a date in fine print that dated roughly fifteen years ago, followed by a string of abbreviated letters.

S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D

Next to the initials is a scribbled note in handwritten writing: Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter.

" It should be the one." Dumbledore sighed as he straightened up and asked courteously, "May I?"

Ms. Bones made an inviting gesture, "All protective magic is withdrawn."

Dumbledore nimbly probed the prophecy orb, and paused at the touch, then took hold of it. He closed his eyes slightly and his whole body remained motionless for a moment before he put the prophecy orb back gently as if he had woken up from a dream.

He murmured softly.

"I heard this prophecy with my own ears - about fifteen years ago on a cold and humid night in the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade, I went there to meet an applicant who wanted to be a professor of divination class. I wasn't originally intended to keep that class open, but the applicant was the granddaughter of a very well-known seer, and out of courtesy, I decided to meet her in person ..."

That person must be Trelawney, Felix thought to himself.

"So the prophecy is from that interview, at your request?" Ms. Bones asked.

"Yes and no," Dumbledore said softly, seemingly going back to that night fifteen years ago. "I tried to talk to her then, and hoped she would show her talents a little, but the results were a great disappointment; in my opinion, she did not inherit her ancestor's talent for divination at all, so I told her that she is not suitable for the position, and then turned to leave."

Neither Ms. Bones nor Felix said anything, they knew the twist is coming.

"... Then she made a prophecy, a real prophecy," Dumbledore murmured. He removed his wand from his robes and waved it hard in front of the two, a cloud of silvery smoke spewing from its tip, followed by a harsh, hoarse voice that rang out with an uncontainable frenzy as if she had contracted some sort of malady.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

The voice stopped. The silver smoke that condensed in the midair fell like snowflakes and disappeared before touching the ground. The three people watched the scene in silence.

"Although I read the information when I came, but -" Ms. Bones could not hide her inner shock.

Dumbledore slightly bowed his head, his eyes looked at them through the half-moon glasses.

"Honestly, I was skeptical, the prophecy is not as magical as I thought, and it does not always come true, otherwise there would be no need for the Ministry of Magic to send special personnel to follow and observe the progress of the prophecy. But in any case, the applicant finally made a prophecy, or a very dangerous one, and it would be irresponsible to ask her to leave any longer."

"Indeed, I asked the unspeakables before, and it would be lucky if even half of the prophecies here came true." Bones offered corroboration.

"So you took her in and protected her?" Felix asked.

"I didn't have much of a choice." Dumbledore nodded slightly, "Especially since the prophecy was heard by a third person, though not entirely. It couldn't be helped that Sybill was struggling to make ends meet and had to live in a cheap and fishy Hog's Head Inn, and I didn't expect to get anything worthwhile out of that interview; it just happened. That eavesdropper - in my perception at the time - is most likely a Death Eater, and that's all the more reason I couldn't risk letting Sybill roam around the magical world alone."

Felix then realized how Sybill Trelawney had ended up teaching at the school years ago.

So, it's not entirely Dumbledore's misjudgment uh ... rather he was afraid that she would be caught by Voldemort ...

"The eavesdropper didn't hear the whole prophecy?" Ms. Bones asked keenly.

"He only heard the first three sentences." Dumbledore said.

The three remained silent, each pondering something on their mind.

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...

So it is Harry Potter. Felix thought, but Neville can also barely be included in it, after all, the two of their birthdays are just one day apart, both at the end of July. But maybe Voldemort has OCD? That's why he finally went with Harry, whose birthday was further behind? Or is that prophecy at work, 'the Dark Lord will mark him as equal', Voldemort did not choose the pure-blooded Neville, but Harry, who is a half-blood like him.

"Perhaps I made a mistake," Dumbledore suddenly said, "and my actions - agreeing to Sybill's entry into Hogwarts for teaching - may have driven the prophecy to happen. Consider this: the loyal servant told Voldemort the prophecy he heard, hoping that his master would break free from his established destiny, yet he only heard the first few sentences, as a result, Voldemort was unaware of the considerable risk he was actually taking by doing so, and - to put it politely - Voldemort was so wary of me that he may have confirmed the prophecy from my actions of sheltering Sybill."

But the truth is that no one can accurately predict what will happen the next day, let alone much further into the future than that; just as you can't expect perfect saints to exist in reality, both of which are unlikely to be true.

"There is a second prophecy." After a few moments, Ms. Bones said.

She led the two to another shelf, and Felix looked a little odd as he got a familiar sight. As they drew closer, Dumbledore showed a startled expression as he walked quickly past one shelf after another, and stopped before Ms. Bones to gaze at a brand-new label. It bore the clear writing.

S.P.T to H.J.P. (to be verified)

Dumbledore looked closely at the date on the label, and after a little thought, he came to the obvious conclusion: the prophecy occurred during the final exams of the last school year, and the two people who made the prophecy at that time, the seer's initials remained exactly the same, or Trelawney. And the other one is also familiar to him -

"Harry James Potter," Ms. Bones said, "that's supposed to be that boy's full name, right? I checked it with Sirius."

"I think the prophecy mentions me." Dumbledore said, a bright light sparkling in his azure eyes.

"It probably mentions me too." Felix said slowly, and then he added, "I feel very connected."

"This prophecy is not as highly regarded as the first, nor is it under heavy enchantments for protection, but the fact is - I looked through Bode's notes," Ms. Bones took a deep breath, her eyes widened, " It's probably the most special one in the entire Hall of Prophecy."

"Why do you say that?" Felix asked with interest.

"Because you two aren't the only ones who can feel the difference in it, I feel it too. It's not a coincidence, as anyone who tries to get close to it will experience a warm feeling of closeness from it. This means that ..."

"The prophecy covers a huge range of people." Felix snapped back to attention.

"That's right," Ms. Bones said with approval, "I guess it might have something to do with the first two sentences. You'd better take a look first."

After a long while, Dumbledore calmly handed the prophecy orb to Felix and then fell into deep thought.

Although Felix already knew the prophecy, he still listened to it again. "The unprecedented change of a thousand years... The legendary drama is thus played... ho- The clown returns on the drumbeat, the warrior is ready to go, the lion grows old, the firebird of Nirvana - Time! Time!"

"The unprecedented change of a thousand years... The legendary drama ..." Dumbledore said softly, "So, we are all on the stage, and this prophecy announces a whole era."

--

Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 589 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

" Clown, Warrior, Lion, Firebird ... Who do they each refer to?" Ms. Bones asked tentatively. If the first two sentences pulled back the curtain of the times, then the next four sentences are obviously the important players on the stage. She actually had some guesses in her mind, and at this moment she wanted to get confirmation from Dumbledore and Felix's mouth.

"Before things really happened, we can only guess." Dumbledore shook his head slightly.

"But there are some things - such as the Firebird Nirvana, does not it refers to Phoenix? Or someone related to the phoenix?" Ms. Bones asked, as her eyes unabashedly looked at Dumbledore.

It is a well-known fact that the Headmaster of Hogwarts has a phoenix named 'Fawkes'.

"That's one of the cons of prophecy," Dumbledore said with a smile, "when you try to find out the 'truth', you will get deeply involved in it - I can associate a dozen or so wizards who are related to the 'Firebird', and more if you count foreign countries. It could represent some magical creature, such as a phoenix; or some magic, such as a unique Patronus, a transfiguration; or even a state, a quality ... what we are guessing at the moment is just what we would like to see in our future."

...

Time passed day by day, Felix took the time to visit the Ancient Rune Society, with Clammy in tow, they made their way unhindered to the office of the president of the Ancient Rune Society - actually a separate study, filled with various stone tablets, handwritten notes, and ancient inscriptions.

Felix caught a glimpse of old Vera, who is sprawled at his desk with a row of rune cards on it, mouthing some words.

Clammy lightly coughed twice, and the man at the table froze in response.

Then Clammy had to walk over, and tapped her finger on the table, and reminded, "Grandfather, Professor Hap is here ..."

"Who's here?" Old Vera looked up at her slightly perplexed, his attention seemed to remain on the table, "Forget that, never mind that, first help me figure out what this is supposed to mean here?" He waited a few seconds and got no response, so he looked up absently, and his eyes suddenly widened when he locked eyes with Felix's.

"I heard from Clammy that you are available lately, so I popped over." Felix stifled a smile and said, "I've recently read a few books you've written and had some questions that I wanted to discuss with you ..."

As it turns out, even the most stubborn person, when someone takes the initiative to hand out the ladder, will accept it hesitantly.

(*ladder here means help, like receiving an olive branch*)

At least old Vera is such a person, he has long been compromised, and is no longer concerned about ego and honour this time.

At first, Felix asked a few symbolic questions, which had happened to touch the old Vera's proud point, and he began to talk at length and eloquently, then a little less than ten minutes later, it became his turn to take Felix's hand to ask about the rune cards.

"I want an order compiled according to the difficulty, for learning purpose." Old Vera said.

Felix got a little surprised when he heard that, as he never expected him to inquire about the educational materials.

" Look, I'm researching theoretical runes, and they have some similarities," Old Vera reluctantly 'quoted' Felix's definition and explained, "As long as I want, learning dozens of practical runes a day is no problem at all. I just need to adjust the writing and cognitive habits."

Felix understood how difficult it is to learn. As old Vera said, there is indeed an overlap between the two - both theoretical runes and practical runes can be memorized quickly, but the rest will take a lot of time.

According to this line of thought, the old folks in the ancient rune society who have studied theoretical runes all their life can actually master hundreds of runes casually, and the subsequent learning will not be too slow.

Of course, there are not so many practical runes on the market for them to learn. As Felix didn't release them all.

"Mr. Vera, I have one thing to ask you." Felix said, "This year, Hogwarts' ancient rune class will undergo a curriculum revision and be divided into theoretical and practical parts, with separate exams for both parts. The theoretical part is fine, but the practical part requires a new curriculum - and I think what you're working on now will be very helpful when writing the material."

"You mean to let me be involved in it? You're willing to cede that part of the rights?" Old Vera looked rather surprised.

"The final decision is definitely still in my hand." Felix said calmly.

The ancient runes had developed to the point where it no longer belonged to him alone, and there is absolutely no need for that. It is enough for him to keep an eye on the most important places to make sure there are no mistakes and prevent the development from deviating from the expected direction.

...

Near the start of the school year, happy news finally came from the sword castle. The Thief's Downfall is completed.

"It doesn't seem to be quite the same as the one in Gringotts?" Sirius surveyed the finished product in the testing room.

In front of him, there is an archway with two straight sides, no different from the normal door frame, except that at the top there is an extra half arc, from which a thin curtain of water drapes down, and Sirius and Ms. Bones look at each other's hazy figures through the water curtain, from each side.

"The principle has changed, I incorporated some rune circuits to replace the goblin magic part." Felix said. "The effect is similar, if you don't trust us, you can try it."

" So how are we going to do that, does anyone have a polyjuice potion on them?" Sirius looked at the others with a probing look, all of them shook their heads, so he looked at Felix again, only to find him looking at him with a smile on his face.

Sirius froze for a moment, what does that mean. But he suddenly snapped out of it.

"Animagus?"

Felix nodded at him, yes, just as you think.

Sirius did not refuse, and his body quickly turned into a big dog with black fur. Its fur is oily and smooth, and its body is huge, like a bear.

The Animagus form of Sirius seemed a little excited, and barked twice all around, wagging his tail and circling around Harry who came along, looking cheerful.

Ms. Bones' thick eyebrows jumped hard. She had to clear her throat - by that time the big black dog had put both front paws on Harry's shoulders. "Oh, Sirius, Ms. Bones seems to be calling you." Harry said with some effort, as he nearly fell on his face.

The big black dog circled the archway twice and then went in through one of the side, the curtain of water on the archway rippled with a circle, and Harry's eyes suddenly widened as if he had seen something incredible.

In fact, it is also true. The thin curtain of water seems to be another mystery, the big black dog's half head disappeared from one side, but did not immediately appear on the other side. The dog was unaware of this, and proceeded to walk forward, when only two hind legs remained, the other side of the arch showed the half of its head, it looked as if a section of Sirius's body had been removed, and it looked very comical.

Harry's shoulders shook, as he stifled a laugh, and the rest of the people present - including Ms. Bones' corner of the lips quivered.

But the next second, the comic scene turned into a frightening drama, the big black dog's head started to shrink and deform forcibly, and the black hair quickly faded, followed by his shoulders, arms, and body parts, as he reverted to human form.

Sirius shook his head, seemingly confused about where he is, and it took a few seconds for him to come to his senses.

"That was amazing." He tsked, and circled the archway, he looked no different from his usual form. He poked one hand into the curtain of water, then pulled it out again, and the curtain didn't react visibly this time.

A neat round of applause rang out in the test room.

...

A week before school started, Felix got his new wand. Thirteen inches, ebony, with his hair as the core. When his fingers touched the wand, there is a sudden warmth in his fingertips and the wand vibrates slightly, as if leaping and cheering, waiting impatiently for his first casting -

Felix held his wand and sliced the air as if he is wielding a long sword - Ollivander watched with rapt attention - A 'rift' appeared and rapidly expanded as it connected to another place, covering the vicinity around it and pulling it in. The tiny wand store seemed to shift at once, appearing in an untidy, desolate land overgrown with weeds.

Everything seemed so real, the dim light, the swaying shrubs, the whistling sound, and Mr. Ollivander smelled the smell of fresh dirt carried by the wind. He tried to take two steps forward, only to bump into something, but it looked clearly vacant.

"An illusion? No, it's more real than an illusion ..."

He plucked a handful of weeds from the ground and watched it turn into stars in his hands.

The next second, the whole illusion disappeared, and they returned to the wand store. Felix nodded in satisfaction, although the exact effect had yet to be verified, the thinking room magic alone showed a notable improvement, he could more easily bring the memories in his head into reality, "Much better than I expected, Mr. Ollivander, thank you, you're the best wand maker I've ever met."

"It's you who matches the wand very well," said Mr. Ollivander with a bitter smile, " If you had someone else to try it, or change a different material, you wouldn't have this effect."

After that, Felix paid enough money.

"Speaking of which, I have to thank you," Mr. Ollivander said, "thanks for alerting me, I found two groups of sneaky people."

"Were they Death Eaters?"

"Probably," Mr. Ollivander himself was not sure, "those people were covering their heads, the good thing is, the Ministry of Magic has issued warning devices to each store, one-click is all it takes for the patrolling Aurors to quickly arrive, so they didn't have a chance to do much."

...

"Remus, it's so good to see you, I thought you had forgotten about us." Sirius hugged Lupin and pretended to complain.

"He didn't necessarily forget about you, but he must have forgotten about his boss and work." Felix said slyly from the side.

"Ahem-" Lupin looked away sheepishly.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked as they sat in the living room of Black's old mansion at the moment, waiting for people to arrive for the meeting.

" Encountered a closed and xenophobic community." Lupin explained, "It wasn't wise to risk contact with the outside world under the nose of a pack of nervous werewolves, so I stayed there till everything was over." He had a palpitating look on his face, "Once or twice I almost thought I wouldn't make it back."

Sirius didn't say anything else, just slapped his back twice heavily.

Kingsley and Emmeline Vance arrived, and everyone offered a warm welcome back to Emmeline's recovery, as the quiet witch smiled from ear to ear.

Soon, Snape also appeared. One by one, everyone entered the meeting room. "Don't try to eavesdrop, I will cast a spell." Mrs. Weasley warned the children.

"Spoken like it's the first time you've ever done that." Fred muttered. The door slammed heavily in front of him.

In the meeting room -

Snape is the first to speak.

"What I'm about to read is a top-secret document, which is not allowed to be mentioned publicly in any context as requested by Headmaster Dumbledore, and it is also forbidden to be shared with non-members of the Order of the Phoenix." He deliberately glanced at Sirius, who "tsk" ed.

"According to a credible source, the Dark Lord - the You-Know-Who," Snape said with an expressionless face and a different voice, "has a keen interest in something in the Department of Mysteries and is sparing no effort to look for it ..."

"Even after the availability of Thief's Downfall?" Sirius interrupted him.

"... You'll find that thing won't stop him," Snape said breezily.

"And I know what he's capable of, I've fought him--"

"You mean escape?"

Both Snape and Sirius spoke in a tit-for-tat manner, causing others to have a headache.

"Well, you can save your greetings till the end of the meeting." Kingsley said.

"... Given the failure of controlling Broderick Bode, the Unspeakable, using the Imperius Curse before, he may send out Death Eaters to gather information - he has a shortcoming in this area, as a Death Eaters who have worked for the Department of Mysteries Augustus Rookwood is imprisoned in Azkaban ..."

"... Thief's Downfall is also not omnipotent, it can not detect the human heart, whether it is willingly, or forced, or unintentional disclosure of secrets, it can not detect it, nor can it warn ... "

Snape finished, then leaned his body on the back of the chair without saying a word.

"Ahem, then I will continue on this topic," Kingsley spoke calmly: "We have been long ready for this, every important material in the Department of Mysteries will be protected under complex magic, under normal circumstances, only those respective Unspeakable can access it, but there may be a loophole after working hours, so Dumbledore Convinced Ms. Bones to let the Order of the Phoenix to undertake the task of protection at that time, to avoid any slip through the net."

Not everyone in the Order of the Phoenix knew about Voldemort's goal, so they used 'something like that' as a proxy when talking about the Prophecy Orb.

"There's not much to say on my end," Sirius said, "We're more or less relieved to have Thief's Downfall. Amelia decided to set up one in Azkaban as well, the schedule is currently fixed for the day after tomorrow ..." His tone suddenly became complex, if this thing was available a few years earlier, he certainly could not escape.

Snape looked up, his eyes shone with a strange light as he muttered: "Azkaban? Are you starting to miss it, you must have made quite a few friends there ..."

The conference room nearly turned into a gladiatorial arena.

...

By the time the meeting was over, the members of the Order of the Phoenix who were not assigned any tasks stayed to enjoy a leisurely afternoon tea, while Snape and Professor McGonagall left because of their personal commitments. Felix stared at Snape's disappearing figure and asked Mr. Weasley, "Is he always this busy?"

"Probably, he usually won't stay late on weekdays." Mr. Weasley muttered. They went to the living room and sat down, not long after Mrs. Weasley and Tonks appeared with some dessert plates, "Watch out for the last step." Mrs. Weasley warned.

"Oh, okay." Tonks said, followed by a headbutt on the umbrella stand and the plates fell out of her hands.

Felix moved his fingers and motioned for the plate to settle on the table.

"Thanks, I always forget there's something here." Tonks said bitterly.

"Actually that umbrella stand was moved from the foyer to here just two days ago," Ginny quipped from behind her, " because you always bump into it when you come back from work ..."

Tonks became annoyed and tried to cover Ginny's mouth, who ran away squealing.

"Where's Frank and Alice?" Felix asked, he hadn't been here for a while.

"They went away on a trip, I believe they went to the giant's territory." Mr. Weasley said.

On the other side, Bill is chatting with Sirius and Lupin.

"The goblins are angry, you know, about the Thief's Downfall thingy." Bill said the information he had snooped in his office.

"Lame pretence, they simply don't want to stand in favour on either of our sides." Sirius said.

"If you've ever dealt with them, you'd see that goblins have different ideas than common people, different from common wizards to be exact." Bill shrugged and said, "They are really angry that wizards stole their technology ... but you are right, they really have no intention of siding with us ..."

"Sirius, when are you going to leave the Ministry of Magic?" Lupin asked. He didn't ask when Sirius would be out of duty at the Ministry of Magic, but rather when he would withdraw as planned since Sirius is going to be a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts in the new school year.

"By the day before school starts." Sirius said after a moment of hesitation.

"You're not reluctant to leave, right?" Bill asked with a smile.

"Ha, are you kidding me, I can't wait to leave a bit early."

--

Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 589 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

In the last few days of the holiday, Harry and the group didn't train much anymore and started to look forward to the new term. Neville reluctantly said goodbye to them and went back to his grandmother's house, after they had arranged to meet at King's Cross Station.

"Why do I feel you've been acting weird lately?" Ron looked at Harry with a puzzled look on his face, while unceremoniously attacking Harry's White Queen piece when he got diverted.

" Have I?" Harry asked with a jolt of sensitiveness.

Ron's eyes widened, "Of course you did. Let's see, you're often erratic and distracted, including the last few days we spend at the Burrow, and you can't even bring yourself to play Quidditch with Cedric! And Voluntarily gave up the opportunity to Ginny, who also behaved erratically these days..."

His expression became doubtful with suspicion, making Harry look embarrassed for a moment: "I mean, do you guys have some kind of secret?"

Hermione sighed behind her books, Ron finally realized it? But unexpectatly, his words took Hermione by surprise, when Ron asked with certainty: "Harry, did you plan to go to Godric's Hollow and Ginny happened to know about it?"

Harry froze in his seat.

"What makes you think so?" Hermione asked, in surprise.

"I guessed it, I saw Harry staring at that picture a few times," Ron said smugly, but the next second he got serious, "Harry, Mum forbade us to go out, at most, we can go to the burrow to get some fresh air, but of course, if you insist, we can slip out using invisibility cloak and Apparition to get there and back! --"

Harry shook his head, "Remus advised me not to be impulsive for some time, and I, uh, I have not figured it out for now."

" Then what happened?" Ron pressed on.

"Because, because," Harry took a deep breath, it is time, he thought. "I've mastered three Unforgivable Curses."

"Unforgivable Curses!?" Ron shouted, as his eyes widened, and Hermione was also stunned, the thick book in her hand slipped to the floor, this is not exactly what she had imagined.

After a long while -

"What do you guys think?" Harry looked at them with nervousness.

Ron slapped Harry's shoulder hard, "That's so cool man, how did you do that? Did Professor Hap secretly give you a little tutoring?" He guessed, "Or maybe it was Dumbledore, you guys have been going out quite a lot lately."

Hermione did not look kindly at that, "No way, the professor would never teach us those curses! There were strict restrictions on Aurors - even in the period of war back then - and this is something that Tonks told me."

Harry hesitated for a moment, but he still told his abnormalities, starting with the night he returned from the Ministry of Magic, recounting the special feeling he had when he woke up from bed, the next morning Professor Hap took him to test three curses, and the various questions Dumbledore asked him after that, and finally the two memories he asked for.

He became short of breath at the thought of one of the memories, which contained the scene of Ginny kissing him on the corner of his lips, something he should have gotten rid off!

But Dumbledore asked for the memory to be complete as possible, Harry then handed it out in his mind without much thought, causing him to regret it every time he thought about it now. Now when he and Dumbledore went out alone to meet his friend, he was not very keen on talking ... and Harry did not know whether to feel sorry, because he did not get much opportunity to spend time with Ginny alone, which made him inevitably suffer from the suspicion of being self-conscious.

Ron and Hermione struggled to digest the shocking news.

"That easy? You learned those two curses in less than a single morning?" Ron still found it incredulous.

"Aren't you listening carefully, Harry is obviously under the influence of the You-Know-Who, the professor was just further verifying that. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been that easy." Hermione looked at Harry and said seriously, "Harry, the professor is right, you must not relax your training on the Occlumency."

Harry answered sullenly.

"This is not a joke, Harry, from your symptoms-"

"Symptoms?!" Harry snapped in annoyance.

"Well, the indications." Hermione picked her words carefully, "Your connection with the You-Know-Who is getting stronger and stronger - which is very bizarre, since when it started?"

"Probably after Voldemort's resurrection." Harry said.

"-but since it has developed into the acquisition of his evil knowledge, it is not trivial, Harry," Hermione explained patiently, "Dark magic affects one's sanity, and you can imagine what would happen if part of V, Voldemort's ideas and your fused together? Your personality may change without you realizing it, or he may even plant a certain idea in your head and make you think it's your own. Maybe that's what the professor and Dumbledore are trying so hard to avoid."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"Work on the Occlumency, and, uh, keep yourself from slipping into negative emotions more importantly." Hermione said what she had read from the book, but they are all old tricks, "I-we can help you with that, right?" She looked to Ron, who busily nodded along.

At dinner, Fred and George told them in graphic detail about the new guards at Sword Castle.

"About a dozen feet tall, they're like enlarged golems, created using more precious materials and enchantments. When they lit up, the magical glow around them could literally illuminate ... You'll see them when you go to Diagon Alley, there are two standing at the entrance."

"You guys participated in its creation? What are the capabilities of those guards?" Tonks, who stayed for the meal, asked with interest.

Fred sighed, "Professor Hap made them all by himself, a week before our Anti-Spell series finished, I wish I could poach him for our prank workshop-" he said with a grin.

Mrs. Weasley looked at him sternly, and he dutifully made a gagging motion and stopped talking before the word 'Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes'. But Harry knew that Fred and George had signed a contract for a store, right in the Hogsmeade village.

"Is there only two?" Harry asked.

Fred and George looked at each other, "It's a secret."

Harry subconsciously held his breath, "So ... there are many?"

" Well honestly, we are not sure," Fred said, "There are about a dozen of them on laying out there," He counted them one by one on his fingers, "Two at the door, another two as soon as you enter the front door, and a few sporadically placed on each floor after that ... but those can't be all of them."

"That's right," George picked up, "Ever since the professor came out of the lab, Fred and I have found several storage rooms with locks on them, but we can't open them, and there are only a few people who have access to it."

He spread his hands.

"We tried to convince Penelope to let us wander in while Professor Hap was away, but she was dead set against it. I bet there's an army of golems in there!"

Fred and George looked excited, at which point Tonks also became interested: "Is this thing can be produced quickly? Maybe I should suggest for Ministry to purchase a batch if it's really cost-effective."

"Not for now," Fred dismissed her idea, "only Professor Hap can make those guards for now, and I heard it involves extremely advanced memory magic ... but he's not in the company right now. "

"Professor Hap is not in the company? Where did he go?" Harry asked.

The twins shook their heads.

"Penelope and Clammy would know, they have a way to contact the Professor on an emergency matter in their hands, Remus should have one too, but we can't meet him very often."

"The Professor is probably off dealing with the Muggle world, he takes a few days for that every year." Hermione said.

"He mentioned it to you?"

"Oh, uh, I took a wild guess." Hermione said.

When Felix reappeared, it is the last day of the holiday, and he brought three envelopes with him.

"Took some time to go back to school, Minerva was busy, so I helped her to bring this book list." Felix said as Harry, Ron, and Hermione each took their own letters and opened them impatiently.

"It's supposed to be here sooner," Ron said as he opened the envelope, "school starts tomorrow."

"Professor McGonagall was probably too busy, and only in the last two days did she have the time to deal with the school matter." Harry guessed as he opened the envelope, which contained two sheets of parchment, one to remind him that the school would start as usual, and the other with the names of the books that would be used during this term.

"There are two new books that need to be purchased," Hermione read the contents of the top, "The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5; and Practical Runes for Beginners, by Felix Hap and Hedstrom Vera. Professor, have you published a new book?"

Felix nodded slightly.

"Huh, who's the other author?" Hermione asked, staring at the title.

"He's the president of the Ancient Rune Society, you guys would have met him, he and Professor Marchbanks came to the school for a briefing." Felix explained, "Because of time constraints, Mr. Vera and I simply sorted out the practical runes that would be used in all five grades from 3rd-7th grade and organized them into a book in order of difficulty and teaching order, which would be separated later when we get a chance, and the textbook would be published by L.C.A. Publishers."

"How come there is no new book on Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Harry asked, looking repeatedly at the list of books.

"Sirius didn't tell you?" Felix asked.

"No, he-"

"Did he forget about it?" Ron shook the envelope, "Huh, well, there's one more paper, let's see-" His mouth suddenly opened wide, and he didn't move.

"You got another one there?" Harry somewhat curiously came up next to Ron, and at that moment, Hermione on the opposite side had flipped her envelope upside down, as a golden red object slipped into her hand. Harry subconsciously squeezed his own envelope, and it was empty.

"Our Grade Prefect." Ron uttered, "I've been chosen as a Prefect."

Ron and Hermione became fifth-year Gryffindor House Prefects. Felix was a little surprised by this result, but after a little thought he understood Dumbledore's intention, the Prefect had both power and responsibility, and Harry is already carrying too much responsibility on his back.

But Harry obviously did not understand it, at the moment his heart is empty, he can only say congratulations in a vague tone, far less sincere than Mrs. Weasley who arrived upon hearing the news.

In fact, there would be no one more surprised than her, not even the recently emerged Prefect himself.

"I can't believe it! I can't believe it! Oh, Ron, it's fantastic! You're Prefect!" She hugged Ron excitedly, water stains dripped from the wet rag in her hand. She generously promised a gift to her youngest son.

"Can I get a new broom?" Ron asked expectantly.

Mrs. Weasley looked at him with some difficulty, and then smiled, " Of course, I will call you in a few minutes then, first I have to get Fred and George's shopping list, besides the broom, I have to get you new books, oh yes, and Ginny's portion, that's a lot of stuff." She chuckled and left.

Ron stopped where he was, for a while, and his eyes twinkled, "Fred and George are going to die of jealousy, they absolutely will! But who cares, I'm a Prefect, and I'm about to get a new broom! Oh, crap-"

"What's wrong?" Harry asked dryly, feeling as if his voice had come out of someone else's mouth.

"I should add some more money from my prize money - so I can get a better broom." Ron said gleefully, his eyes starting to light up, "That's right. I'll go and talk to Mum now."

"Professor," Hermione asked Felix in a whisper, "can I call home? From the pay phone outside in the neighbourhood? Mom and Dad will be happy to know the significance of the Prefect post."

Felix thought about it, "Let's do this, Miss Granger, you have not been home for a long time, take this opportunity to just stay with your family, and later in the evening I will pick you up."

" I-I, I have to pack my bags too." Harry blurted out awkwardly.

He went back to the bedroom alone, the suitcase laid on the table wide open, like a big mouth, which seems to be silently mocking him. Harry grabbed one of the dirty clothes on the bed and sat down in a daze, only now he had a moment to think.

He'd almost forgotten about the Prefect before, but when the news actually arrived, he wasn't able to pretend like he didn't care about it. If it was necessary to choose between the two of them, he definitely would have been a more preferable choice to be the Prefect than Ron. Harry had some hard feelings inside, did they believe he is Worser than Ron? Without wanting to seem arrogant and cocky, he desperately tried to find a justification for himself. I'm better at Quidditch and better at dueling ... but other than that? There's no big gap between Ron and him in terms of other schoolwork. But outside of schoolwork - Harry thought indignantly, all those adventures they had shared, all those life and death struggles - he had done everything much better than Ron, and Headmaster Dumbledore knew it perfectly well.

But then he couldn't help but correct himself; Ron had always stood by his side, even when they had faced Voldemort, he had never flinched. Unlike him, he has no reason to be an enemy of Voldemort, so it looks as if Ron seems more heroic? At that moment, a voice popped up in Harry's head, but Ron stole the honour that belongs to him.

"No, that's what he deserves." Harry whispered to himself, yet the voice started to buzz again, incessantly, which Harry miraculously understands. I did more than him and yet it was not appreciated, not to mention I didn't receive what I deserved; that voice transmitted more dark thoughts to him, maybe I should teach him some lesson, with the newly learned curse ...

"That's not my idea," Harry said to himself, "Ron is my best friend." He jerked to his feet and nearly fell over. He gasped, his face rapidly switching with expressions that at one point looked like he had turned into another person.

"Someone needs to get their head checked." The blank canvas in the frame on the wall taunted him.

Harry stared at the canvas, but there is nothing there, maybe it is one more piece of proof of the Black family's ancient, noble, magical heritage, as he had seen clocks that fire nuts at people, snuff bottles that bite, and display cabinets that cough and spew out large puffs of dust when the doors of the cabinet opened.

"You're wrong!" Harry said aloud, but the canvas did not respond to him.

After a short while, Harry heard footsteps, so he hurriedly lowered his head and stuffed the clothes he was holding haphazardly into his trunk as Ron came bouncing in.

" In time!" He said happily, "I put half of my prize money at stake, just in time to replace the Cleansweep series with the Nimbus 2000, in fact, I can afford to buy 2001, but I figured I should save it, I have a birthday present to buy, and in case 'Future World' company released a new product ... are you okay?"

"Great, Ron, I mean - you're finally going to have a good broom to join the regular team soon." Harry paused after he said that, and was relieved that the words sounded both genuine and sincere.

Ron's smile gradually disappeared.

"I thought you would be the one who would receive it, I totally didn't expect this-"

"No, th-that's what you deserve." Harry said firmly, which sounded more like he wanted to hammer these words through his own head. "You fully deserve the honour of being a Prefect. As for me, I've got enough trouble of my own ..."

"Oh, well, you're right, maybe Dumbledore didn't pick you for that very reason - is he still coming over today, I mean that inexplicable afternoon tea?"

"Yeah, I think so." Harry felt glad that Ron had changed the subject and that the school year would start soon, and he wouldn't have to eat a bellyful of fruit preserves at Dumbledore's friend's place anymore; he couldn't stop the nauseous feeling whenever he thought about that stuff.

...

In the evening, Sirius returned, and Harry welcomed him joyfully.

"Should I call you Professor Black?"

"You can leave that for the dinner tomorrow." Sirius broke into a smile.

At dinner, he sat down next to Felix and whispered, "Felix, I heard you're the security staff of tomorrow's Hogwarts Express?"

"Yeah, just one of them," Felix glanced at him and let a jam jar fly into his hand, "as I recall, you are going to be a part of it too."

Sirius turned his head a little awkwardly, "I'm going to take a leave of absence ... and work tomorrow morning."

"Why?" Felix asked curiously, it didn't sound like something he would say.

"I was supposed to go on a visit to Azkaban with Amelia today and set up a thief's downfall, but I got an alert that a dementor had appeared in a muggle town, which later proved to be a false alarm...

Anyway, uh, I thought - in order to have a perfect beginning and an end - I need to visit Azkaban for once, and say goodbye to the past once and for all."

--

Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 589 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

At the table, Felix and Sirius' conversation continued -

"As soon as Kingsley agrees, he's the nominal organizer." Felix whispered.

"I'll talk to him, but he probably won't be able to come over until tomorrow morning, you know, given his status as Ministry of Magic's Auror." Sirius said, spitting out a chicken bone.

The relationship between the Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry of Magic is interesting. The two are independent of each other, yet inextricably linked, as many members of the Order of the Phoenix are also working in the Ministry of Magic.

Amelia Bones knew this well, but she did not do anything against it.

On the one hand, it is out of respect for Dumbledore, on the other hand, it also has a more positive practical significance. The Ministry of Magic has a complicated workforce, and many wizards will try to climb into a relationship with a pure-blood family by doing a few gray and black deals, so it's easy to say that the Ministry of Magic is nothing more than a bucket with many holes.

Thief's Downfall can only wash away the spells, but cannot explore people's hearts.

In some important tasks - such as escorting the Hogwarts Express, in addition to the strict secrecy in advance, Ms. Bones must also carefully select the personnel involved, to prevent leaks.

And regarding confidentiality, the Order of the Phoenix has a natural advantage.

After dinner, Felix calculated the time and picked Hermione up from her home.

"I set up wards near your home," Felix said: "similar to the effect of The Trace - when someone in the neighbourhood casting spells, I will immediately get the message. And the situation at present is not that serious, Voldemort is taking a contraction strategy, you do not have to worry about your family's well-being."

"I understand." Hermione nodded lightly, but her eyebrows still concealed a heavy worry.

"You look troubled, Miss Granger." Felix pointed to a bench under a lush tree with a hanging bell, "Why don't we sit there, once I have rested there." He was referring to the time he had come out of the Department of Mysteries, and Hermione easily understood what he meant.

"Professor--"

At this point, the two sat on a bench and looked at the crowds of people that passed and strolled through the Muggle community from time to time.

Felix turned his head slightly sideways in Hermione's direction, gazing at the beautiful setting sun.

" Do wizards and muggles really not co-exist?" Hermione asked with hesitation.

"What do you think?" Felix asked gently.

"I think," Hermione spoke hesitantly for a moment, then rattled off, as if she had been holding these words in her mind for a long time and had made several drafts, "of course I want both to coexist, after all, I am caught between them, I mean my origin. But I read in a book - well, there are similar cases in the History of Magic book - about how wizards and muggles were originally not separated from each other throughout history, but things didn't turn out so well, they were hostile to each other, and many conflicts broke out, and the great witch hunts of the fourteenth century are just a reflection of this saga."

"That's right." Felix said approvingly.

"Also, many wizards chose to stay away from the public, the books explain this by saying that they were doing so in order not to violate the Statute of Secrecy, but in fact, this phenomenon existed even long before the Statute of Secrecy was introduced, and there is also the theory that wizards could not stand the sight of muggles and could not tolerate their smell, but- "

"Sounds like a loser's self-comfort?" Felix didn't realize that he is smiling.

Hermione hesitated and nodded unnoticeably, "But aren't wizards supposed to have the upper hand? After all, they have magic?"

"Well, that's a complicated question, I'll try to explain. You can look at the social structure of a wizard; a mature wizard can satisfy most of his needs that normal people require the help of society to satisfy, with the help of magic. This leads to the fact that - wizards are far less connected to each other than ordinary people, in other words, you can hardly organize them to work for a common goal. As far as I know, the last person who wanted to break this invincible prison known as Statute of Secrecy is still imprisoned in Nurmengard because he wanted to rule muggle before they became uncontrollable."

"Gellert Grindelwald?" Hermione asked in a whisper, the name seemed to hold great power.

"Yes, and he made use of people's discontent with the Statute of Secrecy for that goal." Felix said calmly, "And, you're missing the rather crucial point - magic is very rare in the real world, but it is quite common among wizards -"

"Isn't that natural?"

"Of course not." Felix said in a tone of discussing academic matters, "I've been in contact with some occult societies that take magic very ... well ... perhaps consider magic as something 'sacred '? Do you think they can imagine real wizards using magic to do laundry and cook and make fires and water their plants?"

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows in serious thought.

"So - well, wizards are used to using magic to solve all sorts of troubles, and the day-to-day type of life magic is the norm, right?"

"They're either civilians, or pragmatists, but never a soldier." Felix summarized briefly, "Magic in their hands is also not a weapon, but a tool - at least for most wizards. So when facing an emergency, they don't use magic to their advantage to make more clever choices, especially young children. To protect their families, wizards choose to back off voluntarily."

"But there are exceptions," Hermione affirmed, "Wendelin, the fourteenth century witch, was very fond of being burned and had allowed herself to be caught by people in various disguised forms as many as forty-seven times."

"In those days, 'unattached' wizards always lived more freely." Felix said.

The two of them sat quietly for a while until the sky darkened, casting a shadow on the ground. They watched a young couple out for a walk, their child - probably only a year or two old - stumbling ahead.

"Professor, when did the word muggle originate?" Hermione asked again when the family had walked past.

"Ah, that's an interesting question. I guess you're asking if the word has a derogatory connotation?" Felix asked with a smile, and without waiting for Hermione to answer, he continued, "The exact origin of the word is untraceable, and who knows what was in the mind of the first wizard who uttered 'muggle', but he did take a cheap advantage of the fact that there was no standardized term in the magical world for 'non-magical person', so the term was accepted by more and more wizards."

"Whether or not it contains a derogatory meaning depends on the tone of the speaker, both the Weasleys and the Malfoys use this term, but they must have had very different notions, which you should have an inkling?"

The shadow belonging to Hermione nodded.

"But in general, if you use the word in a conversation with ordinary people, it will carry a hint of arrogance and indifference that belongs to wizards. A very subtle difference that perhaps only a young wizard from a Muggle family can perceive."

"Why is that?"

"Would you like to be labelled," Felix asked rhetorically, "especially if you don't know what that label means?"

"Of course not-" it dawned on her, "That's why you never used the word 'muggle' when you were communicating with my father and mother. "

"I was trying to reduce the communication barrier," Felix nodded slightly, "It's obviously easier for them to understand the term 'ordinary people' or 'non-magical person', however, If you have a wizard standing opposite you, it would seem very odd and wordy to talk like that."

Hermione understood a little. She liked the professor's approach better, showing respect for the speaker.

"What about the first question?"

"Can wizards and muggles co-exist? I can't give an answer to that, Miss Granger, but I think that the trend towards integration is inevitable, or more accurately, I think it's only a matter of time before the magical world is exposed to the general public."

"Oh, I see! So, Professor, did you create the 'Future World' company because of it?" Hermione asked keenly.

Felix gave a light laugh.

"I wanted to create a buffer zone, a responsibility that we - wizards of muggle origin - naturally carries."

Hermione broke into a smile, although she had never felt inferior because of her origins, she still felt anger and hurt when Malfoy called her a 'mudblood', and after today, if Malfoy ever said such a thing again, she would just pity him and think he is shallow and stupid.

Although Malfoy no longer used it in the past two years.

Is it because of the professor, too? Hermione thought, she felt a little regret that she had not been able to see this scene in time travel. At first, she seemed like a shadow that shouldn't exist, out of place in the whole world, wandering aimlessly between the castles and grounds of Hogwarts, and even the ghosts couldn't spot her.

But she also saw a lot of secrets that were previously inaccessible.

Hermione survived the hardest days with the food in the beaded pouch, but there was always a time when the food ran out, just when she thought she would be like all those time travellers, trapped in time and starving to death, the gods of luck finally came.

A crack appeared in the Time-Turner.

In the tension and fear at the same time, Hermione found herself once again possessing an entity, she rushed to sneak into the kitchen to steal food, after a full meal, Hermione was in the mood to consider whether her actions are changing history, or become a part of one of the many strange rumours at Hogwarts.

A food-stealing ghost?

But she was too hungry to care that much. It turned out she was right to do so - two hours after that she was taken on a time jump and her body reverted to a near-void state, but the good news was that she was gradually figuring out the routine and could do things she had previously wanted to do but couldn't.

For example, mailing a letter.

After almost a month and a half in this way, Hermione discovered that she had gained a solid body in her normal state as if cloaked in an invisibility cloak. She guessed that as she moved closer to the normal timeline, she herself is moving closer to the real thing. It is only a matter of time before she is discovered.

So she escaped from school and returned home, ready to document her experiences and spend some final time with her parents. After that ... Hermione pursed her lips and looked at Felix: "Thank you, Professor."

"What?"

"Oh, I mean, I seem to have found a new goal that encompasses the previous one - Professor, I'm planning on joining the Ministry of Magic after I graduate." Hermione said.

"A bad news, I thought you would choose 'Future World' company." Felix sounded a little vexed.

"I wouldn't give up ancient runes either." Hermione said greedily.

...

Felix and Hermione returned to the old Black mansion, and before they could say a few words, it is time for bed. Mrs. Weasley stopped Ron from continuing to brag about his new broom and shooed them back to their room.

"That's Nimbus 2000!"

Ron and Ginny shouted in unison. But immediately Ron looked at Ginny warily, "You don't expect me to lend you my broom, do you?"

" Stingy."

Ginny grunted and stood up haughtily like a proud cat.

"Come on, kids, you have to go to bed early today, otherwise, there's bound to be a big mess tomorrow." Mrs. Weasley said with great conviction. "I'll have to wake you up early or someone will miss something again ..."

She was right. Early in the next morning, the whole house is in chaos like a chicken coop. Mrs. Weasley and the portrait of Mrs. Black who hung in the foyer simultaneously screamed at the top of their lungs.

"- No magic! You two idiots--"

"--dirty bastards, defiling my ancestral house--"

Harry got dressed in a heartbeat, and shoved his toiletries haphazardly into his trunk, while the others looked like they had their hands full until they boarded the Hogwarts Express and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fred and George tried to cast a spell on the suitcase, and it almost hit me ...," Ginny explained to Harry about the morning's events.

Harry scratched his head, not knowing how to face Ginny alone - just now, Ron and Hermione went to the Prefect compartment, "Uh, are you okay?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he felt like crap.

"I'm fine." Ginny showed a smile as they carried their luggage along looking for an empty compartment, not far in front of them there is a girl with messy, waist-length blonde hair. "I spotted Luna, let's go there." Ginny said.

Harry looked up and even though he only saw her back, Harry recognized her immediately from the way she moved indistinctly as she fluttered into the compartment.

They squeezed through the crowd and met Neville midway, "Oh dear, Harry, I thought I was late." He said happily, " So close."

On the other hand, Felix arrived at a compartment near the front and opened the door where several Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix sat quietly inside.

"Hello guys."

Kingsley, Derris, Moody, and Dedalus Diggle nodded at him respectively.

Felix picked an empty seat and sat down. It is obvious that with so many people sitting in the same compartment it would become a little cramped, Moody's condition is bad, he is uneasy, his eyelids are fluttering and his big rough hands are always trying to grab something.

"You mustn't draw your wand, Alastor." Dedalus Diggle who is sitting next to him said carefully.

Felix blinked, thinking that the trip had become interesting, and he took out a coin and let it jump around his fingertips as his mind wandered. Dumbledore appeared and spoke to him last night, and the words they have spoken emerged in his mind, well, when the time comes, what is a good reason to leave? To find a snack cart to buy snacks?

He sighed silently, feeling it does not fit his image.

--

Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 590 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

In the carriage, several Aurors chatted about recent events.

"You probably think the You-Know-Who doesn't have a brain, right? Think again, how did he gather the initial group of Death Eaters, if you think he will only use force to oppress, you are very wrong." Moody's voice is hoarse as he said, " Excessive valuation of the thief's downfall will only lead us to fall into the enemy's trap. One must always remain vigilant."

Hearing this, Derris couldn't help but grunt.

"I was also involved in the last war, and all I saw was him and his Death Eaters leaving one dark mark after another over the house where the wizard lived, along with those Inferius ... He would leave nothing but a fearful impression."

"It's the deepest impression," Moody growled, taking out his curved flask and taking a hard swig.

"I've experienced it from beginning to end, I was an experienced Auror even before the You-Know-Who openly recruited Death Eaters ... During those first two years of the war, the Dark Lord hid his cruel and vicious side well - he spent Most of his time promoting his unorthodox ideas, recruiting manpower, and maintaining a low level of confrontation with the Ministry of Magic, slowly he disobeyed the rules of the Ministry of Magic at that time, to create their own system ... but the minister at the time was confused by his disguise and had an illusion of being able to resolve disputes peacefully, as a result, public opposition towards You-Know-Who continued to disappear as wizards, dark creatures were secretly recruited ... Minchum finally recognized the status quo, but by then he was unable to curb the rise of the You-Know-Who."

"So he was a competent leader in the early days of the war?" Felix interjected.

"Depending on how you look at it, he set his sights on those old pure-blood families, getting money and followers from them, yes, I'm going to use the word 'followers', and he did confuse a group of people with his actions, a group of fools... ... Those people held the bottom of the barrel to support him, such as the Black family at the time," Moody's intact eye glanced at Felix, "If it weren't for Mrs. Black's poor health, I doubt she would have determined to join the You-Know-Who's side and be completely tied to him. "

"Since when did he undergo a change in character? Became cruel and tyrannical?" Felix asked mildly.

"About mid to late," Moody smacked his lips, "it is difficult to specify, based on the perception in those years, he probably thought he was winning, it would not take long to become the ruler of England, so he reverted back to his nature."

Felix had a different view.

Those years are probably the period in which he frequently battled against Dumbledore, according to Dumbledore's explanation, he had more than once seriously injured Voldemort, but Voldemort always did not take long to come back to life, Felix, therefore, speculated that Voldemort may have secretly used the Horcrux.

Finally, from the information he gathered, Voldemort was extremely confident about his conquest of death, and if he hadn't experienced the experience of coming back from the dead, he hardly would have shown such strong confidence.

At that moment, they are already driving in the open wilderness, with a large block of shades of colour sliding past their eyes.

Felix gauged the time and took a silver pocket watch out of his pocket.

The front cover popped open with a "click".

The eyes of the Aurors focused on it at the same time, and after a few seconds of silence, a pink nose peeked out, followed by a black, furry head, as Valen emerged from the space of the pocket watch, and looked around in confusion.

"Kee? (Is school arrived?)"

"Not yet," said Felix, "but you seem to have slept for almost a day, come on, I'll show you around, Hermione and Harry are in their compartments."

Valen's spirit rose up, at first she sat on him and stretched out, then leaped up and jumped to the door of the compartment and waved back at him eagerly. Felix inquired others in this compartment, "I might buy some food, do I need to bring you some?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"We'll go ourselves if we need," Moody said.

Without another word, Felix pulled open the door of the compartment and walked out.

"Can you please help me find Harry?" He requested Valen.

Valen sniffed left and right as she walked, and finally stopped before a compartment. Felix saw Harry, Neville, Ginny, and Luna sitting together through the window and smiled, "All familiar faces, that makes it easier."

Felix pulled open the compartment in which Neville is introducing his birthday present to his mates.

"Mimbulus Mimbletonia, it's from my grandmother, she waited until I got back to give it to me." He said, pointing to a small pot of what looked like a dysplasia cactus. Instead of being covered with thorns, it is covered with a bunch of big pimples like boils.

"What does it - well - what can it be used for?" Harry asked, staring at the thing, and he had a hard time convincing himself that he would like it.

"It's good for a lot of things!" Neville said proudly, "It has an amazing defense mechanism, and I discovered it when I tried to put him under Daydream Charm..."

"Daydream Charm?" Harry asked, sincerely hoping Neville would focus on it, but Neville couldn't wait to show them the wonders of his new pet as he pulled a quill from his pocket and reached toward the plant.

Everyone's eyes got drawn by his action, Harry felt uneasy, his body leaned back a little; Luna is exactly opposite to him, her dreamy eyes peeking from behind the magazine 'Quibbler'.

"Can you wait until I leave to demonstrate?"

Felix's voice stated, and the group looked up, Neville's hand dangled in midair, and Harry mentally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Professor Hap, what are you doing here, uh, did you just say ... leave?" Harry couldn't help but ask.

Felix nimbly flashed in, and casually pulled the door curtain of the compartment shut. He put his index finger up to his lips and whispered, "Shh. Can I trust you guys?"

In response to his serious tone, Harry, Ginny and Neville nodded nervously, while Luna was half a beat slower, adding that it is only at this moment she greeted him through her magazine, "Hi, Felix."

"How are you, Luna, did you solve the riddle in the magazine?" Felix asked.

"Not yet-"

After greeting, Felix got down to business.

"As you may or may not know, this train is under various protective enchantments, such as anti-apparition-" He could faintly see a blur of steam when he looked out the window, and in the distance, there is a range of mountains and woods.

Felix drew his new wand, "For some reason, I must leave for a while and you guys need to act like you didn't notice it, okay?" Without waiting for them to answer, he flicked his wand in his hand and a small window vent above the train's compartment popped open abruptly.

"Professor, can I help you with anything?" Harry asked hurriedly, his hair ruffled by the sudden breeze.

"Sure, close the small window after I leave." Felix said as he put away his wand.

"But how will you go out, the ventilation window is too small-" Harry almost bit his tongue as Professor Hap's body rapidly grew smaller, like slow-motion footage, Harry could see every detail, but in a flash, the professor disappeared and in his place there is a bird with long narrow wings like a rain swallow, hovering in midair and rushing out of the compartment in a blink of an eye.

The four people in the compartment gasped, Luna blinked and looked out of the window. The Rain Swallow remained in their field of vision for only a few brief seconds before disappearing.

"Are we dreaming?" Luna's soft voice asked.

"Luna, I guess it is Animagus, the Professor's Animagus." Ginny said.

Harry felt someone tugging at his shirt and he looked down to find it is a Niffler, and she is pointing her finger at the small open window.

"Valen? Oh, right." Harry stood up and closed the ventilation window, by which time, Valen had sat down between Harry and Ginny, and her little hand probed into her silver pocket watch and pulled a bag of butter cookies out of it.

"Kee?" she looked at Harry.

"Uh, I didn't hear you?"

Valen huffed, as she gestured at him with her small hand.

"I guess she wants you to help her rip the bag open." Luna said, "A smart little fella, and she can also write."

--

Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 590 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

The wind blew from all directions, as Rain Swallow flew like a black ghost between the mountains, with its wings brushing through the spires of towering trees. The conversation with Dumbledore last night surfaced on Felix's mind piece by piece -

"I received Intel that Voldemort is preparing to personally capture Amelia when she returns from Azkaban using Portkey."

"What are you going to do, arrange a trap in return?"

After a long silence, Dumbledore shook his head in the darkness, "Not this time, we have no foolproof, we can not act as if we know about this in advance."

Felix understood, that this is to protect the spy, and the person who passed on the information is likely to be Severus Snape.

"Then you--"

"I will not be involved in this operation ... it concerns a plot," Dumbledore said softly, the silver moonlight shining on his glasses, making it hard to read his expression. "Although I am not certain yet whether it will be used, but before the decision is made, I can not show my face easily, especially cannot be seen by Voldemort."

...

The Port of Felixstowe is the largest and busiest container port in the UK, located in East Anglia on the southeast coast. On a small stretch of deserted beach near the port, two figures emerged from the distorted air.

Sirius and Ms. Bones stood together, clutching a well-worn copy of the Daily Prophet in their hands.

"I hate Portkeys, can't we just use the ferry like we did when we went?" Sirius rubbed his head, he had just hit his head on Amelia's knee, all sorts of these kinds of accidents would happen when using the portkey.

"The people left behind need the ferry more than we do," Ms. Bones stuffed the newspaper into her pocket, "and since we're going back early, we have to make do with what we have."

Sirius muttered something in a low voice.

Bones flashed a smile, "Well then, congratulations, Professor Black."

Sirius looked at her smugly, then his face changed, "Someone's been lurking nearby." He drew his wand and looked alertly from side to side as Ms. Bones drew her wand in sync, the tip flickering as the sand on the small patch of the beach began to shake.

"Are you positive?" Ms. Bones asked with a serious expression, "It could just be a passing muggle."

"I'm not sure," Sirius said, "I just think - look out!" He waved his wand and a ball of fire exploded in midair with a deafening sound, Sirius staggered back, but he couldn't care less, his eyes fixed dead on one direction as he inhaled a deep breath, "Voldemort!"

Voldemort stood on the beach, at some point in time, as if he had been waiting there for a long time.

"Amelia Bones," Voldemort's pale fingers held the end of a wand as he saluted slightly, "I wish to invite you to be a guest of mine at my castle."

"And if I refuse?" Ms. Bones asked in a dull voice.

"As a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, I trust you will not be that stubborn, but if you insist-"

"You killed my brother." Ms. Bones said with gritted teeth, as she stabbed the wand in her hand like a sharp sword, and the sand grains on the ground rose and rolled up a sandstorm. " Go!" She said to Sirius, Sirius's hand immediately rested on her, ready to cast an Apparition.

The sandstorm suddenly rolled backward, creating a heavy wall out of thin air, and smashed against the two, Sirius and Bones got thrown far away, and couldn't get up for a while.

Voldemort calmly walked towards Ms. Bones, "I'll just have to dig out useful information from your mind then; I might omit some, something that I would not like to see."

Sirius sprawled on the ground, with the feeling that more than one rib was broken, and his wand emitted a red light, Voldemort casually blocked the spell and halted his advance. He seemed to have just only spotted Sirius, his red eyes glinted menacingly as he stared for two seconds -

"Avada Kedavra."

" Solid Earth Wall!" Ms. Bones shouted, and a spacious wall rose up from the beach, blocking the Killing Curse. (*not a spell*)

Once again, the two rejoined.

" Transfiguration." Voldemort uttered in disgust.

" Look for your chance to escape. You're more important than me." Sirius said through clenched teeth as the corners of his mouth began to bleed and his ribs drilled painfully into his body. He braced himself and recited a spell.

"He's targeting me, I can't possibly escape." Bones shouted, while waving her wand, the rocks on the shore suddenly seemed to come to life and lunged toward Voldemort, "So we should think of other options--"

Voldemort showed a cruel smile, he looked like a cat catching a mouse, the spell flicked aside one by one, blasting a piece of rock with ease. The aftermath of the spell left a trail of wounds on the two. If not for the purpose of capturing Amelia alive and digging out the secret of the prophecy, he would have been in a more relaxed state of mind.

At that moment Sirius suddenly grabbed Bones' hand, as he recklessly and forcefully casted Apparition, Voldemort's wrist waved violently, the wand issued a whistling sound, and a bloody wound burst open from Sirius's chest, but the two had disappeared from their original spot.

Voldemort approached unhurriedly, staring at where the two disappeared, and the next second, he appeared straight away in a deserted suburb not far from here.

Sirius and Bones barely held themselves up from collapsing.

"Why does everyone try to use the Apparition to escape, for a highly skilled wizard, like me, it is easy to follow the trail you left behind, not to mention that I disturbed your landing spot." Voldemort explained generously, expecting a look of desperation from the two.

But the response he received was a prepared powerful spell.

Sirius conjured a dozen rusty iron arrows in the air, which let out a mournful cry and flew towards Voldemort, Bones waved her wand in sync, and a patch of open space around her and Sirius suddenly sank, "he can't intercept the Portkey, --" she pulled the newspaper from her pocket and held it out, "Be Prepared!"

The surface of the newspaper flashed with blue light, and then returned to normal.

"Hold on, just three seconds--" she looked at Sirius, whose chest is gushing with a large amount of blood, "three, two-- "

Sirius stared at midair, with his eyes widened dramatically, while Voldemort hovered in midair at some point and a curtain of green light fell, Sirius wrestled his hand free from Bones' grip, as his red spell faced green light; he gritted his teeth and tried to hold on for a few seconds at all cost.

Bones reached out to grab him, only to twist and disappear the moment before she touched him.

It is over ... Sirius thought, he couldn't stop Voldemort's killing curse, but at least one of them escaped. He began to think about what the world after death would look like, and after ten seconds or so, he suddenly found himself still conscious.

A huge thing blocked the curse, Sirius blinked, and the thing seemed to be a giant golden galleon?

Sirius's jaw dropped.

While above the ground, Felix blamed himself for his blunder, he hadn't counted that Sirius would forcefully use Apparition, even though he had done the same when escaping from him. Anyway, it took a while to catch up again, but luckily he caught up in time and used a coin with a Zooming Charm to block the Killing Curse. This familiar scene caused Voldemort to instantly disappear from where he was as he appeared far away from Felix.

"Voldemort, in your words, you are foolish to appear here today," Felix said calmly as he showed him his new wand, he couldn't help but want to try that potent killing curse from the last fight again, but because of his lack of confidence in restraining Voldemort with dead wight Sirius, he felt it would be unwise to expose his killer move and all the magic associated with it.

Voldemort stared at his wand, with an ugly expression.

"Felix Hap." He muttered, with a flash of madness in his eyes. He is already decided to retreat, as the intel from Lucius slowly passed through his mind - Felix Hap gained a new wand, while he is still stuck with a mediocre wand, and he became insane with jealousy.

Voldemort vowed in his heart, that before their next meeting, he must obtain a wand that matches his identity, a wand that allows him to cast spells without scruples. He looked at Felix expressionlessly and disappeared from where he was.

Felix did not move, with deadweight Sirius, he certainly can't chase him for a fight, because the consequences of fighting Voldemort with a deadweight would be disastrous. (like the death of Sirius)

"He's gone?" A frail voice asked.

Felix took a few steps forward and looked at Sirius who is sitting in the pit of blood and looked like he had just been fished out of a pool of blood. Sirius leaned against the edge of the deep pit and said irritably, "If Voldemort is gone, save me quickly, I can't stop the bleeding, I ... damn it, I'm dying."

Felix laughed, "You still have the strength to curse, which means you are still young to die." He quickly dealt with Sirius's injuries, after a vial of potion was fed in, Sirius's state significantly improved a bit, but his whole face still looked pale as a vampire.

During the treatment, dozens of Aurors popped up from thin air, and Ms. Bones' face clouded with heavy gloom, but when she saw Sirius, who is bantering with Felix with a dull look, her expression froze.

"You're still alive!?"

"Almost dead." Sirius said laboriously, nudging his mouth in Felix's direction.

"I'll take you to St. Mungo's." Ms. Bones pursed her lips for a while before saying.

Unexpectedly, Sirius shook his head, "No, I'm going to Hogwarts, Professor Black can't miss his first opening night."

"I'll bring Sirius to the school hospital wing first." Felix said to a worried Ms. Bones.

...

The school great hall.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked toward the long faculty table.

"The professor isn't here, Sirius isn't here, and even Hagrid is missing. What the hell is going on?" Harry asked anxiously.

"They might have been delayed by something." Ron guessed, "Didn't you say Professor Hap had left for something? Did he really turn into a swallow?"

"Yeah." Harry said, "But the professor didn't say what he was going to do." He suddenly thought of Sirius, could it be an emergency on Sirius' side?

The Sorting Ceremony began, but the whole time Harry didn't listen carefully, he just thought that the Sorting Hat had been singing for an extra-long time this year. By the time the sorting ceremony was over and the table is filled with food, Harry had to accept the fact.

At that moment, the great hall's side door abruptly opened.

Felix and Sirius walked in, and Felix whispered a few words to Dumbledore, who nodded lightly, and then the two sat down in the empty seats.

Sirius smiled brightly and waved towards Harry, who couldn't spot a slight problem from his appearance, and Harry immediately gave an enthusiastic response, the fork in his hand almost flung towards the next seat.

"Guess what Sirius is whispering to Professor Hap?" Hermione asked, looking in the direction of the faculty table.

"I'll ask tomorrow, right now I just want to eat a lot." Harry said cheerfully.

At the faculty table, Sirius is complaining to Felix: "What did you give me to drink? I don't have any appetite right now ..."

"Uh - you can think of it as a tonic, the ingredients are very precious and contain dragon's blood." Felix replied without looking.

--

Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 591 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

A little time passed and the great hall is filled with delicious smells.

Felix put down his knife and fork contentedly, waiting for the dessert after the main meal, the other students in the great hall are still eating feverishly, while chatting noisily, oblivious to the ghosts floating above their heads.

At the Gryffindor table, Harry had almost finished eating and began to pay attention to the sounds of talking around him. He isn't too happy to find that one of the topics people talking about is him, the ghost of Gryffindor House - the voice of the Nearly Headless Nick drifts into his ears from seven or eight seats away.

"Yes, that's Harry Potter, there he is, you'll have plenty of chances to see him later ..."

Harry didn't turn around, but he guessed that Nick was talking to Hogwarts' new student, and he concluded that the new student came from a wizarding family, so he would have learned his name before he went to school, unless that student is a Topper like Hermione.

Dean and Seamus chatted loudly about the news from Diagon Alley. He pricked up his ears, this year he did not have the opportunity to go there, the textbooks, stationery, and potion materials needed were bought by Mrs. Weasley, he had planned to go to the Future World 1 store in Diagon Alley to see if there are any new products, but that plan had felled through.

He also wondered if the Weasley twin brothers' Anti-spell series products are on sale ...

"The stores are packed, with more people than ever ... It can't be helped, who made this year's book list distributed this late, so everyone hurried to get them. Not many people were interested in stopping for a chat, and I saw several familiar faces, but they disappeared in a flash as if something was chasing after them ..."

"The demand for rune booklets exceeded the supply, and mom tried to buy a few for her relatives living abroad ..."

Seamus said excitedly, and when he met Harry's gaze, he grinned and his voice became louder.

"There are a lot more mobile stalls on both sides of the street, which is actually just a stall with a piece of cloth on the ground. What were they selling? All kinds of amulets, of course, my mother told me they are all rubbish, with lesser odds than finding real things at Knockturn Alley ... of course she was joking."

"That damn place still hasn't been closed down by Aurors." Ron spoke with his mouth stuffed full, and Harry magically understood what he meant.

Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley are adjacent to each other, but with completely opposite reputations; Diagon Alley covers a huge area and is the commercial center of British wizards, while Knockturn Alley is just a small, out-of-the-way alley with stores selling not-so-regular goods.

At that moment, a voice whispered in his ear: "Excuse me, make room for me."

Startled, Harry looked back to see a tall girl with long braids looking down at him, her face barely a foot from his, Angelina Johnson, jabbed her finger between Harry and Ron respectively and managed to squeeze a seat between the two of them.

"So, how was your summer?" She asked briskly.

"Fine." Harry said, momentarily confused about what she is up to.

"Well, it was," Angelina smoothed her hair, "I got selected as the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

"Quidditch captain..." Harry repeated, then his eyes widened as he exclaimed, "Quidditch?!"

Angelina showed a "Really" look, "Fred told me you forgot about Quidditch, I didn't quite believe ..."

"Ha-How could I." Harry stammered, "I even played with Cedric over the holidays." He looked around and spotted the handsome face on the long table at Hufflepuff's side.

"Yeah, so you're not quitting the team?" Angelina asked, her big eyes fixed on Harry with a dead stare, and the pressure steadily building inside Harry.

"Absolutely not, I'm hoping to win another trophy." He assured.

"That's good," Angelina sighed in relief, "I don't want to seem overly sensitive, but I've just taken over the team and I sort of feel a lot of responsibility, I kind of understand why Oliver was so nagging ... "

"Don't ever follow his footsteps." Harry hurriedly said.

Angelina laughed.

"I'll be off then, ah yes, since Oliver is gone, we need a new keeper. I'm going to arrange the try-outs on Friday afternoon at five o'clock, and I want the whole team to be there at that time, alright? That way we can allow the new guy to try and play with everyone."

"No problem, do you already have someone in mind?" Harry asked, and Ron, who was eating at the side, pricked up his ears.

"Not yet," she sighed, "I'll go back later and put the application on the wall." She bent over and left.

"She looks so stressed, I almost forgot about Quidditch." Hermione said.

"Maybe captains who just took over the team are like that? Cedric wasn't used to it at first either ..." Harry only answered the first half of the statement.

"So do you have time, it's O.W.Ls year, and don't forget, you promised Neville to reassemble the dueling self-study group." Hermione reminded him that.

"I know." Harry muttered.

The food on the table cleared up, and after a few seconds, various desserts suddenly appeared on the plate.

Harry picked up a deep-fried jam doughnut and chewed it " crunch, crunch, crunch" while looking over at the faculty table. His eyes first focused on Dumbledore, who sat in a golden high-backed chair in the center of the long table, wearing a dark purple robe covered with silver stars, with a matching hat and gloves, looking like the lead singer of a band that had walked into the wrong place. To his left and right sat Professor McGonagall and Snape respectively, Professor McGonagall is trying a kind of fresh strawberries drizzled with sauce, from her expression it does not seem to be quite to her taste, Snape, on the other hand, squinted his eyes in response to Dumbledore's questions, his lips barely opened and closed, and between Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout, Sirius and Professor Hap are seated. Oddly enough, Sirius had also given up eating early and poking his fork at the fruit on the blueberry cake in boredom.

As for Professor Hap - Felix gazed at the ceiling, which looked the same as the outside environment, but much plainer than the previous years. He and Sirius actually arrived at school earlier than the Hogwarts students, it was just that Madam Pomfrey took a lot of time to give Sirius a full check-up.

In the words of Madam Pomfrey, Felix's approach is quite "crude" and "unprofessional", if not treated in time it may fester and puss in a few days, while she re-cleaned the wound, Felix chatted with the rushed Dumbledore.

"The one who delivered the message to you was Severus." He said in a definite tone.

"I knew you could guess." Dumbledore said with a smile.

"I also know," Felix said slowly, "that it was also Severus who revealed Bones' whereabouts to Voldemort, as Sirius had mentioned it at the meeting and was overheard by him."

Dumbledore went silent for a moment, "You're right."

"Was it really necessary to do this, there was a 1% chance I could not save their life, in fact, Voldemort's most loyal servant, Barty Crouch Jr. died right before his eyes," Felix said in a slightly aggravated tone, "I did that."

"As a qualified spy, to gain Voldemort's trust, he must show a unique value, and this value must be impossible to be given by others, only then, Voldemort will treat him differently." Dumbledore said without emotion.

"That's not the answer I want, Albus, and I never thought you would be so apathetic." Felix said.

"Thank you for saying that, Felix." Dumbledore gave a small smile, and the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes stretched.

"I certainly wish I could do more if I could, trading my life for Voldemort's? Very cost-effective indeed, if there is a chance I will not hesitate ... Hopes of too many people have been placed in this position of mine, I can not easily bet ..."

"I know Voldemort, probably more than he himself, without experiencing a failure, he will not reflect, and Amelia will always be in danger. Voldemort has to realize: that it is not an easy thing to catch her, and she can call for support at any time, this time it is only you, but next time not necessarily, so Voldemort will look away."

"Only Sirius is innocent in this whole thing, but then again he's not, every member of the Order of the Phoenix should be prepared. Just like the person you buried in the Death Eaters-"

Felix raised his eyebrows slightly and made a listening gesture.

"Lucius, is it?" Dumbledore asked softly, "There might be more-"

"How did you guess?" Felix interrupted.

"Ah, Lucius has tried to target me in the past, and I didn't think that taking him off the list of the board would be the end of the confrontation between us, and it did continued. But I've noticed that the complaints against me have decreased by a large margin in the last year, almost like a certain part of the board had lost their voice. Or it would have been much trickier during the board meetings."

"So," Felix said slowly, "if you knew of Lucius' existence, why did you still-"

"Risked Severus?" Dumbledore asked with a smile, twirling his thumbs as he did so.

Felix nodded.

"As I said, Severus has a unique role, he is Voldemort's greatest asset, a nail in the heart of the Order of the Phoenix, able to provide information about everyone, including you and me -"

Felix suddenly understood, "You value how to reasonably deliver information to Voldemort more than getting it from him?"

Dumbledore blinked.

"Instead of letting Voldemort act recklessly, I prefer if he acts at the time I expect, in the way I expect, even if there are risks, I can control them in a justifiable range."

...

"You really got it? The day before school starts?" Hermione asked, amazed.

"Yeah, got it." Harry said.

"I can't believe you got it after failed soooo many times before. What is it about, Harry?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Ron looked at the two with a puzzled look on his face.

"Don't interrupt." Hermione said, as her eyes remained focused on Harry.

"Headmaster Dumbledore got a memory from Mr. Slughorn." Harry looked around to see if someone heard him and whispered at them, "I guess it involves Voldemort, or something similar as Headmaster was quite excited to get that memory."

"Maybe it's a way to defeat Voldemort," Hermione guessed, "According to what you said, that old gentleman and Headmaster Dumbledore were colleagues, which means he taught the You-Know-Who as well, didn't he? He must know something about him."

"That's what I thought," Harry shrugged and continued to wolf down his food, "Compared to Headmaster Dumbledore, Mr. Slughorn was in a less than wonderful mood, he threw us out and didn't even respond positively to the Headmaster's suggestion that he should move."

"Move?"

"Headmaster Dumbledore wants him to live at Hogwarts and continue his Potions research. Hogsmeade would be fine - being a neighbour to Honeydukes - I can see he was a bit tempted." Harry said casually.

Hermione's chewing slowed down, "What could it be? Since it's a memory, it can only be a piece of the past ..."

At this point, Dumbledore stood up and tapped his glass and the great hall went quiet.

"Welcome back, I know you can't wait to run to the warmth and comfort of your quilts, but please be patient for a little while longer and listen to my few words ... This year we have two changes in our teaching staff. The first is the Care of Magical Creatures class, our gamekeeper needs to attend to some personal business and will be absent for a few weeks ... In the meantime, Professor Grubbly-Plank would fill in the vacancy, so let's give her a warm welcome."

Professor Grubbly-Plank rose from her seat, nodded toward the students with her prominent chin, and sat down as the great hall erupted with polite applause.

"Next we will introduce our new teacher for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Black has extensive experience fighting against dark magic and has been working as the Minister of Magic's advisor for the previous two months, he will be joining as a member of our faculty this year."

Sirius stood up gleefully, and waved at everyone, before failing to restrain from whistling loudly twice at the end. The atmosphere in the great hall came to life, and Fred and George responded to him with a similar whistle.

Dumbledore waited for the applause to calm down and continued.

"There are some small, interesting attempts going to be made in this school year, and I'm sure some of you may have heard about them, and there are two things that are closely related to you."

"The first one is that the examination of the ancient rune will be divided into two parts: a theoretical examination and a practical examination, and the specific assessment criteria will be introduced to you by Professor Hap in the classroom."

Felix waved his hand lazily as the students exchange glances below.

"The second matter is, the school will include some spells into the scope of the annual assessment, which requires every student to clear to graduate, if there are special circumstances you can apply in advance, of course, I will not admit the reason such as 'allergy to specific words'... ... We will post the assessment spells for the different grades within the first week of school."

"So, before we all go to bed, let's all sing the school song." Dumbledore said loudly.

The great hall stirred, and Felix's face seemed to freeze, the school song will not be sung every year at Hogwarts, and sometimes the student orchestra will be arranged to sing, but it is clear that this year Dumbledore is quite interested in being a conductor.

A long golden ribbon floated out from the tip of his wand and twisted into words.

Headmaster Dumbledore wore star gloves that matched his robes and hat, and he held his wand as he waved his hands, like he is holding a baton, while Felix hummed along with the crowd.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please~

Whether we be old and bald,

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling,

With some interesting stuff ..."

After the end of the chorus, Dumbledore wiped his eyes emotionally.

"Music always moves people. Okay, now everyone can go back to their dormitories, and Prefects please lead the freshmen to their rooms."

--

Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 591 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

The next morning, Valen remained reluctant to get up from under her velvet quilt, so Felix shoved the twittering alarm clock under her little quilt.

Valen turned off the alarm clock and tossed it out, before drowsily smacking her beak and rolling over to sleep more soundly.

Felix arrived at the great hall; the weather is overcast and damp outside, and the owls' feathers are wet from the dew in the air. A brown owl circled him twice and dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet.

He spread the paper, but there is no mention of yesterday's attack against the Minister of Magic, instead, there's a magic photo of Ms. Bones standing in front of the Thief's Downfall on the front page. In the photo, she looked calmly at the camera with a very relaxed expression, with several people in the background - the Aurors standing behind her with solemn expressions, while Sirius leaning against the wall, and poking the water curtain of Thief's Downfall with his wand.

When Felix appeared outside the Ancient Rune classroom, a student is already waiting at the door.

"Good morning, Professor Hap." Colin Creevey greeted enthusiastically.

"Good morning to you as well, Mr. Creevey, come in." For the first time after two months, Felix opened the door of the classroom, which smelled like a mixture of accumulated dust and damp stale air, and the corners of the walls crept with green moss.

"Tch." Felix waved his wand and the windows in the classroom opened simultaneously, then a whirlwind came out of nowhere in the room, the tables and chairs "clattered", while Creevey's face sparkled with excitement, and after ten seconds or so, a cloud of gray air flew out through the windows, the air in the classroom became fresh and comfortable again.

"Now, all that's left is moss." Felix muttered, pointing his wand at the stubborn green patches, the tip of the wand emitting a bright light, and when it hit the wall, the moss on it immediately disappeared.

"Is it cleaning magic, Professor? I can help!" Creevey volunteered. Felix had no objection, so Creevey drew his wand and followed Felix's example, trying to recite the spell silently. After failing several times, he had to recite the spell honestly: "Scourgify! Scourgify!"

Ten minutes later, they stared intently at the classroom, searching for any possible stains. " Nearly complete, let's see, extra ten points for your passion for work." Felix said and went to the window, where a drizzle of rain has been falling outside, which is carried into the classroom by the wind and hits his face with cool moisture.

Creevey found a seat in the front and took out the book "Practical Rune (Elementary)", and asked with great interest, "Professor, what kind of new teaching aid have you prepared for this year, can you tell me in advance?"

"Why are you so sure of it?" Felix looked over at him from the window.

"Because every year you prepare something new," Creevey counted on his fingers, "the first year - oh, I was still in the first year - -was Golem, the second year was a variety of sneakoscope, and the third year was rune cards ... I was soooo curious for a while about the new teaching aid we would have this year, so I came over early."

"Ah, if you put it that way ... Aren't you already holding it?"

Creevey blinked and looked down at the "Practical Rune (Elementary)" in his hand, and his expression collapsed in a moment with great disappointment. "But--" he stammered, " Just a summary of some practical runes is in here."

"Well." Felix shook his left hand, and the ring glowed with a bright light - and with a loud bang, a large box landed on the table.

Creevey's eyes widened. He leaned down to stare at the contents of the box - it is a variety of small wooden sticks, which appears to be a mixture of quill and wand, with a sharp edge at one end. The sticks are marked with oddly shaped patterns that looked like something in-between letters and runes.

"Rune carving knife," Felix explained: " it already became available two years ago, but I have never promoted it, after all, the wand works just fine. But as ancient runes become more and more developed, it is necessary to make more specific distinctions, just like the cauldron of the Potions class, which also has various versions through the centuries: ordinary type, automatic mixing, foldable, special material, etc. ..."

This is actually Hedstrom Vera's suggestion.

Creevey looked at the box and asked, "Professor, how do I pick the right rune carving knife for me?"

"Oh, the material is actually the same - they even come from the same chestnut tree, at most the pattern is different, but it does not affect the use. You can pick the one you like, first come, first served--" Felix said, relieved to see him choosing with interest.

After Valen learned to write, she loved to scribble around with a paintbrush, so Felix cut a full chestnut tree into thick boards as tall as Valen to allow her to write and paint on it. In addition to a few fairly good-looking 'works' collected by Felix, the rest of the materials were reshaped into rune carving knives.

He caught a glimpse of Creevey picking up a carving knife and examining the design on it with awe in a fleeting glance. Felix decided to keep that a secret, no, to keep the tradition, and in the future add patterns on the carving knives that have no real use ...

At that moment, two more students walked into the classroom, and Ginny and Luna looked at Creevey, who is about to plunge into the box, with rather curious eyes.

...

Felix stood on the podium. The students below are chattering about a rune carving knife in their hands, and they are even seriously speculating about the meaning of the pattern.

"As you already know, this class has a separate practical section, which means that the value of practical runes is recognized by the Wizarding Examinations Authority and included in the examination. According to the first version of the assessment standards, the O.W.Ls exam will only involve engraving common runes and rune circuits, while the N.E.W.Ts exam will involve casting runic spells, such as the Bright Fire-making Spell ..."

The runic spell is not as easy to learn as one might think; the minimum requirement to master it is to master practical runes used in that spell. Not many students in the class can actually do this. To be precise, minus Ginny and Luna, who are both members of the Magic Rune Club, the count is currently zero.

At the end of the lesson, Felix collected the summer assignments and announced the end of the class. The rain outside is getting heavier, with a few muffled thunderclaps sounding from time to time. After finishing his meal in the great hall at noon, Felix noticed the door to the staffroom is left open, so he walked in through it.

"Oh, whoever it is, please close the door for me, thanks - it's a little noisy out there." Professor McGonagall's voice stated.

Felix casually closed the door and looked over at a desk - from where the voice had sounded. But all he could see are stacks of parchment, and Professor McGonagall's body is totally blocked. With a casual wave of Felix's hand, a flame flared up in the fireplace. The dampness in the room dissipated considerably.

"Summer assignment?"

"Yeah." Professor McGonagall looked up and nudged her glasses, "The first week of school is the busiest, lots of things need to be dealt with, summer assignments, Quidditch try-outs, adjusting class choices ... Information from the Order of the Phoenix also needs to be sorted out in time, not to mention taking time to comfort Charity -- -"

She immediately shut up.

"The Muggle Studies professor? What's wrong with her?" Felix asked curiously.

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips.

"Well, you'll find out somewhere else ... she was involved in a tricky mess."

Felix still had an impression of this professor from two years ago, when they had attended a not-so-successful international conference together, and the professor had mentioned that she is studying a popular science book on genes and heredity.

Thinking about it, a guess popped into his head - "There won't be any Death Eaters after her, are there?"

But it shouldn't be, Rita Skeeter is still kicking alive and well.

"Of course not, she-she was caught by the Muggle police," Professor McGonagall said with an uncertain tone as she grunted from her nose, "according to her words she was trying to consult an academic for advice, and she accidentally created a few sparks in her wand and was suspected of possessing a dangerous weapon."

Huh, she is something ...

Felix smacked his lips, and said dryly after a short while, "She was not sentenced, right?"

"Her penalty wasn't too severe on account of her being a professor - just a warning, plus a fine. Good thing she didn't enter Azkaban. Still, she felt ashamed and submitted her resignation upon her return to Dumbledore, but the Headmaster didn't agree. She's been stuck in her office for the past few days, with the excuse of preparing her new book."

Felix raised his eyebrow, thinking of the paper Professor Burbage had planned to publish, he felt that this new book would cause an uproar, in fact, it is not impossible to publish such controversial content, but it is just that the current time is really sensitive. It took less than ten seconds for him to come up with a solution - to send her a complete set of biology books.

Since she is determined to study, let her spend more time, and when she understands it all, the battle may have already been finished.

At that moment, the door pushed open from outside again.

The "rustle" of the quill on the parchment is immediately muffled by the noise from outside, followed by a damp, cold air rushing into the room, the red-hot wood in the fireplace blazed, sending a series of sparks up.

With a "bang", the door slammed shut, Snape walked in dragging his ever-present black robe, with a thick pile of parchment floating behind him.

--

#Matthew Lepcha, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 593 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

It seems they both had the same idea - Minerva and Severus - both wanted to use the lunch break to correct some of their summer assignments. As for Felix, he has much more free time than them.

Nevertheless, he sat in his armchair, holding a stack of papers and reading them.

For a while, the staffroom was silent, with only the sound of correcting papers. The three professors corrected differently: Professor McGonagall is the most rigorous and serious, the quill "rustle" sound rarely stopped, like the sound of fine rain on the grass; Snape is the opposite, he did not move for a long time, and then coldly with a lot of force circling heavily on the parchment, just from listening at that time, Felix was able to Roughly judge the level of the student, and how Severus was feeling ...

Felix wrote down a series of page numbers at the end of the paper as an indication of what the student needed to re-understand. After a little more than half an hour, he stood up from his chair, straightened his body, and prepared to go out for fresh air. Snape, who had not spoken, raised his head, stared at Felix's back, and followed him out of the staffroom.

Felix appeared in the yard, amidst the drizzle outside, and stood by a tall pillar. A broad eave extended high above the castle, and cast a large shadow, which concealed a small patch of bushes.

Felix squinted and gazed at the blurred view in the distance where students were hopping like rabbits in the rain.

Magic is magical and convenient. He couldn't remember how many times this thought had flashed through his mind.

Snape is standing next to him at some point, and there are also students out in the yard for fresh air, but whenever they get close, they would meet Snape's vicious gaze, and it allowed them some free space. The two men surveyed their surroundings respectively for any disturbance, and spoke at the same time -

"I heard you got a new wand." Snape said.

"I heard you got a side hustle these days." This was said by Felix.

Snape's face stiffened for a moment, and then he said softly, "Our Headmaster truly trusts you ... Then you should be wary of him, as this usually means that he has made some scheme that includes you."

"You mean he intends to 'use' me?" Felix asked, he found something rather interesting, in the eyes of different people, Dumbledore's image could be quite different, what about himself? How many faces does he have in the hearts of others?

"Use you...," Snape repeated playfully, "if you mean being a pawn, with all your moves firmly under his control... your sort of right."

"It's scary ~ he wouldn't have prophetic blood, right? But I remember he personally doesn't believe in prophecy that much." Felix said exaggeratedly.

Snape gave him a knowing look, "Our Headmaster is quite a skilled chess player, he will analyse you thoroughly before the conversation begins. Thereby making you believe that everything you do is of your own free choice, except it just happens to be what he desires too."

Felix ignored the familiar sensation of what he himself seemed to be doing - preparing as best he could before the negotiation and not giving the other side a chance to say no. Those words sounded as if Snape was accusing him personally.

"Whining a lot, Severus."

"Just being sentimental." Snape said without looking at him, "So, the name of your new wand is 'Elder Wand'?" Although it came out of context, Felix caught his point.

"That's right." He replied briefly.

"It is the work of Ollivander?" Snape pursued.

"Yes. He's quite skilful."

"But some people don't think so." Snape said gently.

Felix rolled his eyes, "Your part-time boss? I mean, don't you think he's being too strict-"

"Some people think," Snape raised his voice, his dark eyes glued on the curtain of rain, "that this wand has long existed, and has been in the custody of the Ollivander family, which has recently found its new owner after a long time."

Felix was slightly surprised, "Strange." Voldemort misunderstood something? Felix's mind worked fast, Voldemort's previous image of retreating without a fight flashed before his eyes, he certainly had misunderstood something ...

"The Elder Wand?"

Snape fell silent. Felix pondered, so, Lucius told Voldemort what had happened in the wand store? He carefully recalled the conversation with Mr. Ollivander all over again, and he is pretty sure he used that fairy tale name in a joking tone.

But who knows what Voldemort thought, he is not quite right in the head ...

"It is true that there are various legends of powerful wands in history, the Elder Wand, the Death Wand, the Destiny Wand ... The rumours about the Elder Wand are most exaggerated, and the process of their succession was bloody and cruel ... Of course, not many people believe in them, and knowledgeable People will treat them as a story to listen to ... but you can't conclude from this that these powerful wands have never really existed." Snape said in a low voice.

"Why do you say that the Elder Wand was passed down through a bloody and cruel process?" Felix asked, picking out a prominent part.

Snape glanced at him.

"Rumour has it that the only way to become its true master is to seize the wand from the previous owner. And that usually means scheming as well as bloodshed. There's plenty of evidence to support this-"

"Do you believe this too?" Felix asked.

Snape didn't answer positively as he continued, "Several powerful dark wizards throughout history have used their lives to prove their prestige. Of course, there is another faction that believes that it is all just a nonsensical coincidence, a false pattern drawn by later researchers who threaded their way through a limited succession of wand owners and inferred it in reverse order, and it is just rather a fanciful story."

" What I'm holding is not an Elder Wand." Felix said and smiled with interest.

"It doesn't matter if I believe it or not, it doesn't matter if I say it." Snape brushed it off.

Felix was dumbfounded, he had a new understanding of what Dumbledore said before, how to control an enemy's thoughts through intel? Simply by deducing what he did backward on the line, at least, in this case, Felix can conclude: that until Voldemort figure out whether the 'Elder Wand' is true or not, he would never dare to fight against him.

A deterrent effect brought by a fake Elder Wand is astonishing.

Even Felix could not help but feel a bit moved - just as Voldemort is wary of Felix, Felix is also wary of Voldemort. Two wizards of equal strength, far beyond the normal level, both valuing each other's unconscious actions, thoughts and feeling is a perfectly normal thing.

Of course, he knew that the Elder Wand he is holding is a fake, but what if there is such a battle wand truly exists in reality, and he named his new wand after it implicitly, does this foreshadow anything? For example, he will eventually get the real Elder Wand?

But Felix quickly quelled this thought, he is not willing to believe the existence of an invincible wand, that can make any random wizard stronger.

Besides, the wand is only a temporary thing for him, he does not need to spend too much energy on something that is destined to be abandoned. Might as well study how to counter Voldemort's Killing Curse, he now has at least three ideas - zooming magic to enlarge very solid things, seventh-level shield charm, and modified magical creature transfiguration. But it would take time to apply them flexibly.

Felix got lost in deep thought, he had been underestimating the zooming magic in the past, thinking only about how to shrink the target, but when he thought about it, it would be a good idea to zoom in the surrounding things.

He will carry some coins, stones, nails, and other things from now on, and when he encounters Voldemort later, he will throw them at him ... or he can even throw rats and insects hahaha.

...

"Who's there!" Snape suddenly shouted. He strode aggressively toward the shadows, with his robe hurling hauntingly.

Felix looked back just in time to hear Snape's exasperated voice yell, "Fifty points for eavesdropping Professors! For each! Plus Detention!"

Felix blinked and moved a few steps to the side, now he could clearly see.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione are standing together with their heads down, their expressions looked sickly, and Harry is holding a floppy string, the Extendable Ears invented by the Weasley twins.

The other end of the Extendable Ears is twitching at Snape's feet, and Snape's face twitched in anger with it.

--

#Matthew Lepcha, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 593 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

"The same arrogance, ego, self-righteousness, lack of discipline, love to be in the spotlight, nosy, rude -" Snape looked at the three distant figures, his gaze firmly fixed on Harry, his eyes burning with bitter hate.

" Well, if we judge him by Slytherin standards, he really isn't very appealing. Well, all three of them." Felix said softly, "But as you have heard, they only heard the last few sentences, with no beginning ... that is why I said to them that we were talking about my new wand, and I gave it a fairy tale name."

Snape did not speak. His dark eyes still gazed at Harry's back, and from this angle, he looked like his father.

After a moment, he spoke coldly: "Felix, I will pass on the information about your wand to that person."

Felix answered calmly, "I have this expectation, you can decide how much to say by yourself."

"You think I can make the call?" Snape left after dropping a sentence disgruntledly, his black robe tossed, through the curtain of rain. As his figure blurred.

...

"Tough luck." Ron muttered as he stomped up the steps.

"Oh, stop it-"

They stood at the door of the Staff Room, Harry knocked on the door moodily, hoping from the bottom of his heart that no one will be inside, the seconds of waiting seemed like years, and finally a familiar voice heard from inside Saying, "Please come in."

Not exactly what he had hoped for, Harry heard two sighs, he plucked up the courage and pushed open the door as he walked in. It is a long room, a soft glow draped from the ceiling, the room is a little warmer than outside, probably because of the fireplace in the corner. Professor McGonagall looked up from the stack of parchment, her sharp eyes peering over from under her squared glasses.

"Potter, Weasley, Granger, what can I do for you?"

"We were asked to come and see you because ... of some mistakes." Harry handed over the note in his hand and Professor McGonagall frowned as she took it. The note is glued together, an Order of the Phoenix trick and her eyebrows furrowed deeper as she removed her wand and tapped on it, and the note opened automatically.

Professor McGonagall read it quickly and did not speak for a short while after reading it.

"Is this true?" She said, "Eavesdropping on a Professor's conversation?" In addition to explaining the process in general, the note mentioned in cryptic handwriting the context in which the conversation was taking place; the two were talking about confidential information related to the Order of the Phoenix.

"We didn't mean to," Harry said, "I - uh, we went out for some air after lunch and-"Professor McGonagall grunted, so Harry explained everything that happened ten minutes or so back stiffly-

"Did you hear that? Sirius's class was quite popular." Hermione said musingly, as she along with Harry and Ron had just come out of the great hall, to get some fresh air.

"He said he wanted to keep it a secret," Harry sounded indignant, kicking his feet, " saying it's a surprise, but we won't have his class until tomorrow. I'm NOT looking forward to it anyway."

Hermione and Ron laughed.

"What's wrong?" Harry looked at them somewhat puzzled.

"You sound like a little kid who had a fight with his parents ... watch out!" Hermione said as a first-year stumbled over and almost ran into them.

"Running is forbidden in the castle, you'll bump into other people." Hermione first said sternly, and then her tone gentled down, " What's the matter?"

The freshman's eyes looked frightened as he looked back as though someone is chasing after him.

The trio looked at each other in wonder.

"Hey, little one, we are Prefect, if someone bullies you, feel free to speak up," Ron puffed out his chest, making the Prefect badge on his shirt a little more conspicuous, "I have the right to detain and deduce points ... "

"Come on, Ron, we can't abuse that right." Hermione said seriously, she looked at the freshman, who said with a look of shock, "I, I just met the Potions class professor in the yard, he had such a scary look in his eyes!"

"Did you not figure that out on your first day? ... Well, it's true though." Ron muttered.

"Professor Snape ... Well, he's really strict," Hermione said slowly: "If he reprimands you for no apparent reason, you don't have to take it to heart- "

"Yeah, well, you'll have plenty of such bad days in the future." Ron added. And when Hermione's eyes darted over, he immediately shut up, and when her attention returned to the new student, he began to wink at Harry, who felt that Ron had said both sentences rather accurately.

"No, no, Professor Snape is talking to another professor, and I guess ... they don't want to be disturbed." The freshman turned red and stammered, his eyes watered as he finished, before turning to run away.

...

"So you guys wanted to figure out what had happened?" Professor McGonagall asked in a stern voice.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded woodenly.

"We're Prefects, we always, always have to ..." Ron scratched his ear as Professor McGonagall glanced at him, "With all due respect, Mr. Weasley, there is nothing in the Prefects' Code that explains your behaviour today, let alone the fact that this isn't your first time."

The bell rang and Professor McGonagall stood up, shoving the parchment from her desk into a drawer, "I fully agree with Professor Snape, points deducted ..." she pursed her lips, "as well as detention, which starts from this week --"

Harry and Ron looked up in horror as they thought about the same thing, Quidditch selection on Friday afternoon.

"-- every Saturday night until lights out, you need to process Potions materials until the end of the month."

After that, they got kicked out by Professor McGonagall, Ron rambled the whole way as they hurried towards the Potions classroom, "Late again, I bet that old bat is definitely going to trouble us ... Why Professor McGonagall didn't speak up for us, Snape is totally making a big deal out of it. Well, he'll be happy, since there is someone to help him with the potion materials this new term ..."

Harry's stomach turned up a little abruptly, his mind recalled the gloomy chamber, the gutted toads, the smoky Mandrake root and Peppermint, the Horseradish, and the Mucus of Flobberworm, the organs of Bats and Rats, the slimy slugs ... his scalp tingled.

They dragged their heavy feet back to the common room by evening.

"I told you, Snape is not going to let us off easily, deduction of ten points each for being late, and aren't we late because of him... Together it's close to two hundred points." Ron's wail is about to catch up with the Moaning Myrtle, they listlessly went to the most isolated seat in the common room.

Harry and Hermione aren't in the best spirits either.

"What do you guys think, can we deduct points from the other houses?" Ron asked out of the blue, neither of the other two paid him any mind, and both Harry and Hermione are accustomed to Ron's daily unreliable suggestions that he would abandon on his own sooner or later.

"We can't do that, not to mention the fact that you have to write a whole bunch of reports." Hermione finally couldn't resist the urge to correct.

"If it's Malfoy's gang ..." Ron's eyes sparkled, then the light dimmed, "Oh yeah, I forgot he's also a Prefect."

At that moment, Harry, who hadn't spoken, suddenly asked.

"That story ... the one that Professor Hap picked the name for his new wand from, is called The Tale of the Three Brothers, right, well, is it famous ..."

"Just like thunder, man, I grew up listening to it." Ron said without thinking, "It's a short story from the Tales of Beedle the Bard."

"Wait, I think I've seen that name somewhere, Beedle the Bard - Bee ..." Harry said slowly, looking subconsciously at Hermione, usually around this point, Hermione will always be able to give the exact answer.

But this time Hermione also showed a pondering expression.

"Have you really seen it, Harry?" She asked.

Harry returned a look of obvious confusion.

Next to her, Ron stifled a laugh and said, "That's a rare thing. Even Miss Know-it-all can't find an answer one day."

Hermione glared at him, "If you know, say it quickly."

But Ron enjoyed this process immensely, so he shook his head for a while: "Think of something that both Harry and I know, well - something that is accessible and that you happen to miss - "

Hermione's eyes seemed to become as confused as Harry's.

But Harry on the other hand had a clue, definitely not something related to study, because Hermione would not leave any corner of the textbook or reference book, she just had that ability. Then it could only be something he and Ron had seen while killing time ...

"I remember," Harry's eyes lit up and Hermione immediately stared at his face. He said in an affirmative tone, "It's The Strange Case of Mick the Little Wizard, it's mentioned there, but I can't remember exactly where it is."

"But I've read ... a few volumes too." Hermione slowly came back to her senses as she and Harry looked together at Ron, who still wanted to play hard to get, but being stared at by both of them at the same time, he immediately threw up his hands in surrender.

"Well, it is in the last book: the young wizard Mick's friend is in danger, and in the moment of crisis he used his magic - and thus exposed his wizard identity. Mick is sad because while he received his Hogwarts notice, he also has lost a group of friends. But on the day Mick leaving, his friends returned, without caring if he is a wizard or not, and sincerely wished him well. After that Mick told his friends the story 'The Wizard and the Hopping Pot'."

Ron finally nailed it down, "That's where the name 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' is mentioned, just once."

"That's very helpful." Harry complimented.

Ron grinned.

Hermione still mulled over what he had said earlier, "What is The Wizard and the Hopping Pot... is about?"

This put Ron in a difficult spot, he thought about it and stammered: "Probably about ... well, a kind old wizard died, he was very kind to Muggles when he was alive, always helping people as much as possible, the neighbours all loved the old man. But his son wasn't like him, so the old wizard left an enchanted pot before he died - the old man must have been an alchemist, ahem, I'll go on - and after the old man died, his son refused to help the poor neighbours anymore, in short, he was quite stone-hearted, and then the pot began to torment the old man's son, making him lose his sleep and appetite, thus the son decided to comply with his father's wishes and continue to do what he could to help his neighbours."

Ron said everything under one breath, so he panted a bit, and after taking two deep breaths, he finally concluded, "I guess the story is trying to convey that wizards can live in peace with muggles and help each other ... that was what my mom said." He lastly added.

Hermione stared at him.

"Don't look at me, I was only a few years old then, so it is impressive that I can remember a bit." Ron said.

"But-" Hermione questioned, biting her lip, as she remained puzzled, "I failed to see any sense of peace and harmony in it- I mean, the old wizard must have figured out his son's nature, so he forced his son to do the good deed, under the compulsion of that pot."

Ron shrugged, "I dunno."

At that moment, a voice suddenly interjected, "Don't give him a hard time, he was drooling over his teddy bear back then." Fred and George came over gleefully, "Sold seven Extendable Ears. The very first day of school!"

"You guys still short of money?" Harry asked.

"That's not true," Fred said with a big grin as he sat down next to him, "but we need some testers who can give feedback about our product."

"Like you did with the quick-thinking candy?" Hermione asked sternly.

"What?" Fred questioned in surprise.

"I saw it all! You guys posted the announcement about recruiting testers on the bulletin board, and if I hadn't noticed it when I went to post the list of assessment spells-" Her mouth pursed up, her expression resembling Professor McGonagall's.

Fred and George looked at each other.

"It won't be long before you will change your mind, Hermione." George said dismissively, "You'll definitely use it, this is your O.W.Ls year, and every year there are a few breakdowns, no one will be ok, the better their grades the easier they will suffer ... remember, Shelton carried an onion flavoured amulet at that time? "

"Of course, I remember," Fred said with a straight face, "after all, we sold it to her, but unfortunately, the concentrated solution of the Elixir to Induce Euphoria does not seem to coexist well with onions." He stood up and tilted his head towards George, "Come on, let's go find Lee, there might be something on his end-"

At the sight of Hermione looking at him with exasperation, so he shut his mouth alertly and fluidly changed the subject, "Oh, by the way, about your previous question, George and I also asked at that time - Dad said that there are always good and bad wizards, that's why people like him exist. "

"You mean--" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"At that time Dad was making laws to protect Muggles." George said briefly and concisely. While Hermione pondered, as the two left together.

Harry is now feeling conflicted, on one hand, Mr. Weasley's practice of protecting Muggles through laws is as admirable as the old wizard in the fairy tale who restricted his son with a pot; but when these words came out of Fred and George's mouths, it always felt slightly odd, especially with their sneaky backs ...

As he lay on his four-poster bed, he tossed all those messy thoughts aside. The possibility of listening to Sirius' class tomorrow filled his heart with anticipation.

--

#Zogio, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 594 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

When Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom the next afternoon, Sirius has shown up early, and he looked completely different from before - wearing a fine, slim-fitting dark suit with a similarly dark vest and a loose collar, his face sported a carefree expression that matched his curly black hair as if he had stepped out of a painting.

"Harry?" He came over to them and asked with a worried look on his face, "I heard you guys got a lot of points deducted? Did Snape do that?"

Harry abruptly felt a sense of temporal dislocation. The image of Sirius seemed to overlap with the time when he had been the best man at his parents' wedding more than ten years ago; at best, he looked more mature now.

"It's nothing really." Harry muttered, not wanting Sirius and Snape to clash.

"Okay then, let's talk about it later." Sirius hesitated, "You guys stay after class, there's something I think you should know, it involves Hagrid."

"He's back?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Shh." Sirius interrupted him, "He doesn't want other people to notice this for a while, as he still can't show up... We are going over to visit him tonight with Felix."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other and didn't press the issue any further. They took their seats, and in the back, Lavender Brown whispered in Parvati's ear - "Don't you think the new professor is more handsome than the previous Lockhart ..." then they both chattered and debated.

Harry hurriedly moved to the inside seat, afraid of being infected by the stupidity emanating from the two.

Hermione looked at Sirius and asked with expectation, "Do you guys think Hag-he'll be back to class next week?"

"I don't know, I hope so." Harry said, judging by Sirius' tone, Hagrid should be back, but why he didn't show up?

The bell rang and all the students gazed at Sirius in silence, their eyes carried a deep measuring look, a treatment every new professor got, only this time it is particularly distinct because the new professor's resume is so daunting - not because he had worked as Minister of Magic's adviser, but because this man had escaped from Azkaban with the title of 'the first Death Eater under the You-Know-Who', and this fearful reputation had scared them for six months before.

Everyone became very curious about how he escaped from prison and approached the school at that time, and many students here had spread rumours about the new professor.

"Well, students, as per the usual tradition, I need to introduce myself first. But I doubt that there is someone here who doesn't know my name, after all, my wanted notice has been posted in Hogsmeade for most of the year, with a surprisingly large one in the window of the Honeydukes ..." Sirius said gleefully: "Although I don't look quite the same as I did then, my name hasn't changed. ."

"Sirius Black, you can call me Professor or Professor Black, and of course, it's okay to call me by my first name directly when we get acquainted."

The students exchanged glances with each other, this new professor seemed to be very talkative ...

"Any questions? If not, we'll start the class."

"But--" Hermione raised her hand, "Um, Professor Black?" Sirius smiled at her.

"We don't have any textbooks yet." She said.

The students nodded, and Harry's heart raced in fear that his godfather would say, I forgot. But on second thought, Harry thought it is unlikely.

" You mean textbook, we won't use that stuff, what I'm going to teach you is not something you can remember with your head," Sirius said.

"Now take your wands and follow me." Before the others could react, he had already disappeared from the classroom.

After a few seconds, he peeked inside with confusion, "What are you waiting for? Haven't I made myself very clear?"

Everyone snapped back, exchanging excited glances with each other.

Hermione, however, was greatly shocked. She remained frozen in place as the other students got up from their seats and headed toward the door.

"A good start, isn't it?" Ron said, while holding his unicorn wand in his hand, "I have a lot of confidence in him all of a sudden."

They walked down the stairs in a sparse line, then walked through the entrance hall and out of the castle, stopping in a clearing on the edge of the Black Lake.

Perhaps because of the rain yesterday, the weather today is exceptionally sunny, warm, and comfortable. The sun is shining, the breeze is gentle, the lake is rippling with golden waves, and a thought pops up in many people's minds - if only today is a weekend.

"When did two more walls appear here? It's so ugly ..." Draco Malfoy asked with a frown, not far from them on the grass, there are two stone walls erected, about twenty feet long, nearly one person high, spaced sixty or seventy feet apart from each other.

Sirius Pretend like he didn't hear it, it was built by him in the dark night, so even if it is a little crooked, it is justifiable, no?

" Silence, students. Defense Against the Dark Arts class has one ever-present goal, and that is to teach you how to protect yourself when you are in danger. So, I have been asking myself one question for a while, and that is how to teach you to PROTECT yourselves in times of war ... Can anyone answer this question?"

Without surprise, Hermione was the first to raise her hand.

"Hermione -" Sirius suddenly coughed repeatedly, "Well, I mean, Miss Granger, please answer."

"According to the booklet distributed by the Ministry of Magic, in the event of danger, the only thing minor wizards should do to protect themselves from danger is - to quickly reunite with their families and use apparition to escape, so all must master and adapt to the side-along apparition."

"Very good, perfectly correct, can everyone keep this in mind?" Sirius looked at the students.

Only a few of them nodded their heads. Sirius furrowed his brow, " I mean ... there is nothing difficult in this, do you need her to repeat it again?"

This time basically everyone shook their heads.

"Great, then this part is considered finished." Sirius said with satisfaction.

Everyone looked a bit confused, what do you mean by 'finished'? Sirius cleared his throat, " Protecting yourself is very simple, don't run around aimlessly, don't create unnecessary troubles, then learn the skill side-along apparition, and that's pretty much everything. I forgot to apply for permission with the headmaster to teach you Side-along Apparition today ..."

In the end, his tone became low and solemn, then he just stood there quietly, to attract everyone's attention.

"It is certainly best if you can escape, there is no need to risk your lives ... but if you cannot escape, or have a reason why you must stay, then you are left with only one choice - and that is to pick up your wand and bravely fight, no matter who the enemy is." He said in a deep voice.

This is the moment where one can see the subtle influence of the traits that are advocated by different houses on their students. Although it would not be obvious when singled out, the difference could still be seen when they're grouped together - most of the Gryffindors and some Slytherin students, are moved by the tenacious fighting spirit in Sirius' words and start to think about the circumstances in which they must choose to fight, but there are still many Slytherin students shook their heads faintly, expressing their disapproval.

There is actually no difference between the two, being calm and being indifferent; being brave and being reckless, as a line between the two is so thin it can be easily overstepped.

...

"All right!" Sirius clapped his hands and said to the students, " Next is grouping, Slytherin House students stand over here, Gryffindor House students go over there." He opened his hands wide as if he is holding two small flags that indicate the direction.

The students followed the instructions and walked to their designated positions. Draco Malfoy passed Harry in stride and turned back with a provocative look.

" It looks like there's going to be a duel later, I will show you what I've learned over the summer." He whispered.

"You can challenge me." Harry had long been accustomed to hearing such words, so answered very smoothly: "But I want to fight against a Death Eater, so if you know one, you need to introduce them to me, okay?"

Draco's smug expression froze as he remembered his Aunt Bella, who had lived briefly in his house.

" Hurry up! You two!" Sirius urged them from the side, and the two went to stand in their respective houses, not knowing if that is a coincidence or not, Harry found himself standing right in front of one of the stone walls, and so did the opposite group next to the wall by their side.

Sirius stood between them and pulled a whistle out of his pocket: "What you're going to do is fight like you're on a real battlefield, it is okay to interpret it as a chaotic battle, where you need to take down the opposite house with your house. I want to see your true level, so follow my instructions - when the whistle sounds, you can start, I will give a reminder in advance, remember: only stunning spell and shield charm are allowed, there should be no one here who doesn't know how to cast them, right?"

The two groups froze for a few seconds, a scuffle? -- "That's not fair." Draco shouted, "There are fewer people on our side!"

"Then how about I transfer you to the other group?" Sirius asked in a threatening tone as he bared his fangs. At least from Draco's point of view.

"I'm not going." Draco said with a scowl, asking a Slytherin to join a group full of Gryffindors? He had only ever experienced that feeling at the Magic Rune Club, and it wasn't a fight.

"Then behave," Sirius said impatiently, turning to everyone and saying in a loud voice, " Do you think the battle will only take place when you want? Think everything will go according to your wishes on the battlefield? I hope you'll still have the strength to complain later. I have prepared a lot of fun games!"

Harry clenched his wand tightly in his hand, he did not expect the practical lesson is a scuffle, and the Slytherin students opposite were also confused. But gradually, some students' expressions become vibrant, their hearts quickly burst with crazy emotions, then they flashed a dangerous smile toward their opponents.

Harry's heart tightened as he took small steps toward Ron's direction while whispering to Hermione, "Come closer, let's get together."

"What, oh!" Hermione hadn't recovered from her shock, with obvious confusion: "How could Sirius do this? He's bound to get tons of complaints! He's acting even more out of line than Hagrid and Professor Moody did before-"

"Let's talk about that later." Harry interrupted her.

On the opposite side, most of the students remained blankly where they stood, so Sirius had started to count down to increase their pressure, "Three - two - one - shoot! " The loud whistle echoed in this field, and the red light of the stunning spell streaked across the field, Hermione and Ron released the shield charm at the same time, to protect themselves, while Harry's wand poked out from the gap of the charm, and twitched quickly, as two people from the opposite side instantly collapsed.

After a round of exchanges, nearly one-third of Gryffindor and Slytherin respectively fell, and everyone stopped, not knowing what to do next.

"Continue! Until one side falls completely!" Sirius, who had retreated further away, shouted at them.

Draco Malfoy is the first to respond, standing behind a crooked stone wall and ordering the rest of the group, "Over here! There are few of us, so let's use the environment--" A spell hit the wall near him, and it is from Ron, who regretfully retracted his wand, "Missed."

That spell acted like a fuse, and after that, every students ran towards the back of the stone wall on their side. From Sirius' point of view, one would see that the students of the two houses are standing behind a stone wall and cautiously looking ahead of it.

There are already a dozen students lying on the ground.

Behind the stone wall, Harry licked his lips, he didn't feel the pressure, knocking down two people with a silent stunning spell seemed like a breeze, especially since he had the protection of Ron and Hermione's shield charm, he felt he had been too cautious before.

"Never mind those people on the ground, they're already 'corpses'." Sirius shouted from afar.

At his urging, the two groups of students chanted spells at each other from across the stone wall. After the initial awe and discomfort, everyone became immersed in this tense, exciting and unusual game of dueling, and they gradually gave up defending and just shot at each other with stunning spells, and after a few minutes, half of their companions collapsed on both sides respectively, and only single digits remained on the Slytherin side, which made Sirius shake his head for a while.

Now the situation on the field has become a total mess.

The huge disadvantage in numbers made the Slytherin students sober up, and they finally stopped appearing and hid behind the solid stone wall, only occasionally glancing from the edge of the defensive wall or from above, and if any students in the Gryffindor group stood still with a big grin, they would be hit by a chaotic spell in the next second.

The situation was at a standstill. Sirius raised his wand from afar and took the unlucky ones who had been hit by the stunning spell off the 'battlefield' and woke them up with a Reviving Spell, and most of them looked shocked when they came to their senses and had no recollection of how they had been hit.

"Look carefully, and write a paper about it when you get back." Sirius said to them.

...

"They're hiding there without coming out, what should we do, Harry?!" Neville shouted as he leaned against the wall. When he had just poked his head out he almost got hit by the spell.

Harry looked back at the rest of the group, "There are 16 left." Hermione said. Harry gritted his teeth, "Would you all like to act in one group?"

"That's for sure."

"We will listen to you, Harry."

"It's too good to be true, we're about to beat Slytherin." Seamus said excitedly.

"Okay," Harry decided to lead them, "Me, Ron, Hermione," he hesitated, "and Neville, we'll go ahead and defend with the shield charm, while Seamus and Dean stand behind us and cast the stunning spell!"

It took them half a minute to adjust and barely build a formation to step out of the stone wall.

On the opposite side, Draco frowned, feeling that something is not right, there is no movement outside for a while, what is going on? He estimated there would be at least a dozen more on the other side, while on their side - he grimaced - there are only six remains.

It is a losing battle no matter how you think about it.

Damn Sirius Black, Dad's words are right, he's the biggest traitor of the Pureblood faction!

He glanced at his followers beside him - Goyle had fallen, leaving only Crabbe with him, "Crabbe, you go outside and take a look." Crabbe filled with reluctance, the muscles in his body could not stop so many wands, but he still poked his head out of the wall, and the next moment his eyes suddenly widened.

"What's wrong?"

"What happened?"

" Tell us!"

The few remaining people asked in a chaotic frenzy.

"They--" As Crabbe spoke half-way through, he got hit by a stunning spell and fell to the grass with a thud, and Draco's eyes popped out. It was not because Crabbe had been hit by the spell, but because he heard the sound of footsteps moving in unison - very close to here.

"Hey, Malfoy."

A teasing voice said, and Draco looked up as Harry grinned broadly from behind a shield charm, and from behind him, two wands flashed red as the spell and darkness struck him simultaneously.

The dozen or so remaining Gryffindor students let out a deafening cheer, "We won!"

Sirius approached the six students and chanted the Reviving Spell on them.

"At the end of the first game, no one used other spells, which is good to know, because in other grades someone took advantage of the chaos to use the hexes, and I punished them with copying sentences that I learned from the muggle school ... Anyway, Slytherin lost, Gryffindor wins."

Gryffindor's students are still joyful, shouting one after another, "We won! Victory! The Slytherin was defeated!"

"... Also, one more thing, half of your comrades 'died'," Sirius said expressionlessly, and they immediately stopped laughing.

"Next the second game, this time you are only allowed to use the Jelly-Legs Curse, not even the shield charm can be used, you can not defend ... treat the curse as a killing curse, you should know its characteristics ... difficult to defend it, you will die if you are hit. "

Many Slytherin students cast hateful glances at him, they think they have to suffer another humiliation, even Harry's heart jumped from all those looks, but Sirius did not seems to mind it

"All stand over here, I want to regroup." Soon, Sirius divided the group of red and green students like a fabric cut in two by a pair of sharp scissors, and the two houses got mixed up. They stood together, yet with clear distance. Everyone's face remained blank.

Harry saw the face of Malfoy, who had just been knocked unconscious, while Ron and Hermione separated to the opposite side.

"About the same number this time, what do you think?" Sirius asked.

He then retreated to a distance again, " You have two minutes to think about tactics, after that the game will began immediately, the rules are clear to you, and whichever side loses this time can no longer make excuses. Of course, you can use this time to goof off."

Harry looked at his new group, no one said anything for a while, half of the Gryffindors and half of the Slytherins looked at each other with strange eyes, they were not long before waving their wands at each other, cheering for the other side to fall, but now they are forced to stand together, apparently, everyone somewhat caught off guard.

They don't know where Sirius learned this from. They couldn't help but complain.

"Why is it so much like the Magic Rune Club?" Neville muttered.

Realization dawned on Harry, and he looked at Draco, with a similar emotion he had felt the first time he saw him in Madam Malkin's Robes store, how could someone be so annoying ... Harry thought to himself, but he fought back his discomfort and said, " As per the club's rule?"

Draco looked at Harry with a measuring gaze, and they looked at each other with disgust. Just as Harry was feeling impatient, Draco's pale face sneered as he said, " Sure."

"Hey Potter, you have to watch out for the spell that will come from the side." A girl next to him whispered.

"Shut up, Pansy." Draco said coldly.

Two minutes passed quickly and Sirius blew his whistle again.

"The battle has begun! What are you waiting for!" He growled and shouted, and everyone subconsciously waved their wands and recited the Jelly-Legs Curse.

Harry suddenly realized what would happen in a chaotic battle, the grounds became a mess with dust and dirt, spells flying around, and many people were chanting the curse, only to fall on the ground the next second with a weak foot, and their unfinished curse hit their partners.

Can not use shield charm and stone wall, they can only dodge, many people jumped up and down, and only a few students can predict the flying spell.

"Only Jelly-Legs Curse are allowed, and students who are hit by the spell will have to voluntarily leave the battlefield after the curse is lifted." Sirius shouted from the edge of the battlefield, casually flicking a curse with his wand. His teeth itched, which idiot had tossed the curse at him, and it is hard not to suspect that it was intentional.

...

"Scatter! All scatter - ouch!" Harry heard Ron exclaim.

When there were only a dozen people left on the field, someone shouted, "Charge over!" Then a wave of people rushed towards each other, Harry took advantage of the chaos to hit three, but then the two groups mixed together, everyone stared at each other, and no one dared to make a move.

Hermione hesitantly looked at Harry, the two of them certainly not a group, but - the two of them are against attacking each other. They did not have to be troubled for long, Sirius came up with a dark face, "What's your name?" He asked the Slytherin student.

"Blaise Zabini." The student whispered.

Sirius scrutinized him for two seconds, "Effective tactics." Blaise just wanted to laugh, but Sirius added, "But also quite stupid, you will be the first to die on the battlefield." Without looking at Blaise's face, he announced loudly, "Game two is over. Everyone Gather here!"

The students sat down on the grass in twos and threes. Sirius sat in the middle of them, one hand propping up his chin, as he squinted and surveyed them.

"Tsk, look at how you guys just behaved. If this is on the battlefield, I can count the number of those who will survive on one hand."

A Slytherin student muttered discontentedly, "We're not to blame for the first one, the numbers weren't even equal ...," he's still indignant about the first game.

Sirius let out a short scoff, "Who told you that war is fair? What do you think real battles are like, where people make appointments to do battle together? Abiding by each other's rules of competition, and doing a one-on-one, a fair fight?"

"That crap you're talking about won't happen in real war and battle."

He shrugged his shoulders and propped his other hand on his knee, inadvertently showing a bit of elegance. His face looked worn and rugged, the years of imprisonment still left their mark on him, but this experience blended with his own temperament made him more charismatic, even though he is just sitting on the ground, but it still made people suspect that he just came out of a noble banquet.

Sirius said lazily: "Sometimes your party will have fewer people, so what are you going to do? You can't say, "There are more people on the other side, so I'll join the other side, right? If your family got surrounded by three or five dark wizards, will you tell them: this is not fair, and turn around to walk away?"

"The difference in numbers, the difference in strength, the state, first move, the environment, the weather, the degree of understanding with your companions ... each of these can have an impact on the two side's balance of power and consequently change the outcome of the battle, and what I want to do this year is to let you experience these things as realistically as possible. "

"Of course, I will also teach you a few spells that are within the scope of our subject."

"Next, you analyse the first two battles yourselves, the shortcomings, the advantages, you can say anything, let's talk casually ... Does anyone want to raise their hand? No? Then I'll leave it as an assignment, three feet ..."

" No, Professor!"

"Let's talk about it!"

In a 'friendly and harmonious' atmosphere, the first fifth-year Defense Against the Dark Arts class ended.

Sirius scratched his chin, "Okay, so the assignment ... uh, no, I will reveal the content of the next lesson in advance: I will randomly select two teams to fight, each team in the range of two to five people, think about how to deal with five people when you have only one companion, or at least try to hold on long enough ... Well, I will see you in the next class."

--

#Zogio, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 594 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

Felix stood at the entrance of the castle, the sky is about to completely darken, from this angle down, you can see the lights in Hagrid's hut is lit up. At that moment, the sound of footsteps and talking came from behind him.

"I should have guessed, Neville said his parents came back a week ago and took him to Diagon Alley to buy textbooks ... I mean, since they went to the same place as Hagrid, it doesn't make sense that Hagrid would be that much slower." Harry said.

"Because they were on different missions." Sirius explained as they reached the castle's entrance, "The Longbottoms fought off the Death Eaters who had arrived as back-up and barely got their revenge, and they came back when it was over, and Hagrid ... Hi Felix." He greeted.

Felix nodded towards Sirius, not really surprised by the arrival of the golden trio, "Based on your relationship with Hagrid ... it's good to meet up, otherwise, you might have to wait a few months to see him again."

"What happened to Hagrid?" Harry asked anxiously.

"He'll be staying in the Forbidden Forest for most of the next few days, today is an exception. He has to take care of his injuries." Felix replied briefly, "Let's go and get back early."

The five made their way down the marble steps, Harry's mind crammed with doubts, when Ron poked him in the ribs, "Look over there." Harry followed his gaze, and the dim light of Hagrid's hut cheered him up.

They crossed the spacious field to Hagrid's hut. Before they could get close, Fang's bark rang out.

Sirius stood at the door and shouted, "Hagrid, we're here!"

A messy rattle came from inside the hut, and after a while, the door opened, and Hagrid came out from inside, his appearance startled everyone. His face smeared with dirt, his head turned into a strange shape, like a pumpkin that had been beaten and smashed: his left eye swelled and became a slit, the corner of the eye is still bleeding, a flat line going under his eye, if not for his nose also bleeding, probably no one can find the correct location of the nose; exposed skin - hand and face are blue and purple, bruised and battered.

Hagrid carefully closed the door, with his other hand so awkwardly that one would suspect he had broken his bones.

"Are you, are you okay, Hagrid?" Hermione asked softly.

Hagrid struggled to open his eyes, and seemed to recognize Hermione's shape as he grinned, "Ah, it's good to see you all, I had planned to show up sometime later - I can't spare much time now, plus I can't see anyone in this state." He pointed at his face and tried to smile, but it strained the wound on his face.

"I didn't quite believe it when Dumbledore told me," Felix looked Hagrid up and down, "but it seems to be true ... How was your trip with Madame Maxime to the giants?"

Hagrid's face flushed with embarrassment as he waved his intact arm, "Not really a success ... Olympe and I, let's just say we have achieved the minimum expectations, the Giants chose not to help both of us, and in fact, they had no time for us ... They, they divided."

" Divided?" Felix asked with some surprise.

"Incredible, isn't it? There aren't many of them left in total, and yet they still fight and kill each other ..." Hagrid led them deeper into the Forbidden Forest, telling his story along the way, "At the beginning of the holidays, Olympe and I headed out to persuade the giants."

" Is it Madame Maxime?" Harry asked.

"Yes, she is a strong person, not afraid of difficulties, which is rare, you know she is an elegant, well-dressed lady; when Dumbledore told me she will also join me, I was a little worried ... But I was proven wrong, whether it is climbing rocks, or sleeping in the caves, she never once complained. Besides, she always comes up with all kinds of useful stuff, she said you lent it to her?" Hagrid looked at Felix.

"If you are referring to the space capsule, indeed, that product is currently a disposable type, if you want to hold things, you must prepare in advance." Felix said.

"That's it," Hagrid said, stamping his foot on a dead branch, "we got to the place quickly, without much accident in the middle, and after a few days of wandering around the mountain, we finally found the cave where the giants live."

"You guys didn't use magic?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, no." Hagrid muttered, "It's okay to use it on the road, but not when you get near the giant tribe. Giants do not like magic, they hate wizards, for some deeper reason, and Dumbledore was worried that the You-Know-Who had also sent messengers, so we had to be very careful ... Anyway, we made contact with the giants, and according to the method provided by Dumbledore, we managed to deliver our greetings directly to the leader, this stage was rather exhausting, we had to be patient and dispel the giants' vigilance, and that approach worked, and we stayed in the tribe for much longer and longer."

Speaking of this, Hagrid suddenly smiled.

"That Gurg- the leader of the giants, although lazy and greedy, but unexpectedly loved to listen to the stories, Olympe and I took the opportunity to say more good things about Dumbledore, other giants who know a few words of English also came to listen, the progress was encouraging."

The forbidden forest became increasingly dim, Felix threw a milky white ball of light into the distance, which emitted a bright, soft white light, illuminating a large area of the forest, in the darkness, you can vaguely see the outline of different creatures, a pair of glowing eyes made people jump.

This is what the forbidden forest really looks like at night.

"We met the leader three times, and on the third visit there was an accident, as we saw the Death Eaters."

"Death Eaters?" Ron exclaimed.

" An expected thing. ... There were two Death Eaters, a man, and a woman," Hagrid said, "and like us, they were treated as guests by the giants, and the leader of the giants foolishly introduced us to each other ..."

"Did you guys fight?" Sirius asked keenly.

"Not at that time, despite the mutual hatred between us, we still reached a tacit understanding and did not fight in front of the giants, but--" Hagrid paused, " out of the giant tribe, we fought privately, the opposite side was not our match, so they escaped. They disappeared for a few days, I thought the two Death Eaters gave up, but then we found out when we were dealing with other giants, they changed tactics and visited the giant leader while we were away, so we approached the giant leader and frankly told him that we wanted him to be on our side ... Now that I think about it, we were more or less impatient, after all, we were not in a position to slowly negotiate... later that afternoon Longbottoms' arrived, and we had learned that the Death Eaters' side sent reinforcements; that night, the giant tribe was in chaos, the war cries were deafening, like a thunder. The four of us discussed for a while and then decided to go out and observe the situation sneakily, and if we found out that the giants were just having a bonfire, we would come back and sleep."

He had a complicated expression on his face.

"On the Death Eaters' side a witch, named Bellatrix was there, I don't know ... how she managed to convince the number two man in the giant tribe to start a rebellion in a night and become the leader herself. Of course, we disagreed! So we also joined the battle. By dawn, a dozen giants died in the battle, most of them killed by each other, and one died by the hand of the Death Eater. The original leader of the giants had lost his arm, and his power was greatly reduced, so only two dozen giants were willing to follow him, including his wife and children. The remaining thirty or so giants formed a new tribe, which is stronger and more brutal. The giants divided into two groups, and the original leader fled deep into the vast mountains, while the new leader chased after ... them, unless they determine a victor, they won't care about anything else ... We have arrived."

Hagrid suddenly stopped in his tracks.

The surrounding woods are dense, but there's a clearing beneath them that seemed out of place. The clearing is ringed with a chaotic patch of branches, and several pine trees have been uprooted. They heard a rumbling sound, and in the center of the clearing there is a huge, round thing, and the crowd moved a few steps closer with the help of the bright light from the illumination magic.

"Hiss~" Ron took two steps back, "Is it ... living?"

What had been mistaken for a mound of dirt or rocks is breathing rhythmically. Harry felt like he would suffocate when the smooth gray thing suddenly moved and made a loud purring sound -- he thought it is a rock, but now it didn't seem to be; it looked like a Pogrebin that had been magnified a million times.

"My brother, oh - my half-brother." Hagrid said in a low and hoarse voice: "I don't think I have told you guys, I am a half-blood giant, my mother left my father after she gave birth to me and found another giant, where she gave birth to Grawp."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other uneasily; they had known about Hagrid being a half-blood giant for a long time. It was back at the fourth year ball when Harry and Ron overheard Hagrid and Madame Maxime talking, and in Ron's words, Hagrid is a complete idiot, who got overwhelmed by love, and the fact that he thought he was whispering, which turned out to be not much different from shouting into their ears.

"Hagrid, is he hurt?" Felix asked.

It is only then that they noticed that the rough 'rocky texture' is actually a wound, and in the soft white light, they could see that it had scabbed over.

"Yes, I, alas, the first day I placed him in the Forbidden Forest, he made a lot of noise, and as a result, he attracted Fluffy, and they had a nasty fight," Hagrid explained. A few people present - Sirius, Harry, Ron, and Hermione's eyelids jumped hard, and Felix also somewhat became speechless, Fluffy is not a human, he is a giant three-headed dog, a rather dangerous magical creature.

"... I was forced to ask for Dumbledore's help," Hagrid said, wiping tears from his eyes, "Dumbledore is a good man, he helped me find medicine for the injuries, I mean, a three-headed dog's fangs are not easy to handle, and Fluffy took a deep bite ..."

"Oh My God!" Hermione exclaimed in an unclear manner.

"Yeah," Hagrid thought Hermione was agreeing with him: "Grawp actually can heal on his own, but it's too slow, and I can't watch him all bloody. I planned to teach him some manners before I took him to meet people, and you guys are the first ones I thought of, this would be a good way to start ..."

"Hagrid, what are your plans for his future?" Felix asked softly.

"I, uh, I haven't thought about it, actually ... it would be good to keep him in the Forbidden Forest, there's no shortage of food here, and not many creatures here can harm him," Hagrid stammered, "I guess he could be my assistant. Of course - only after his nature has changed for the better." He hastily added as the three young wizards present looked like they are going to pass out.

Harry couldn't imagine the scene which Hagrid had described in a warm and fuzzy tone; he had thought that Hagrid, who is twice the normal height, would be considered a giant, and anyone who saw him for the first time would be shocked by Hagrid's huge size, such as the Dursleys. Only after a few more encounters would people will realize that Hagrid is quite a friendly person, but now, the thought of Hagrid patrolling the Forbidden Forest in the future, followed by a Pureblood giant much taller than him, made his scalp tingle.

"Hagrid, how tall is it-er, how tall is he?" He couldn't resist asking.

"About sixteen feet, I think." Hagrid estimated.

"Oh my god, oh my god." Hermione said incoherently.

"So, uh, I'll wake him up then - you guys get to know him, he's much better tempered than before and only punched me twice today - while I tried to convince him to stay here." Hagrid said expectantly, picking up a branch from the ground.

"Wh-no," Hermione jumped back, seemingly horrified, "Well, I mean, I don't understand ... he's not happy to stay here ?"

Hagrid paused and said with a sombre expression, "Yeah, he's always wanted to go back, and I forcefully brought him here."

"But Why - did Madam Maxime agree too?" Hermione asked pointedly.

"She - well, she understood my situation from the beginning," Hagrid said uneasily: "You guys didn't see how Grawp was bullied, if we left him there, he would be killed by the other giants, he, he is too short ."

"Short?" Hermione cried out, "Short?!"

"Within the group of giants, yeah." Hagrid said, "When Grawp went berserk, Olympe helped me to subdue him, but it didn't take long for her to get a little bored, and I have to admit, Grawp's not that bright in the head, grumpy, and not easy to get along with ... After she helped me to transport Grawp across the strait, she hurriedly said goodbye and left. "

"But things are getting better," Hagrid tried to bolster their confidence, waving a long branch in his hand in front of him: "We've been back for three days now, and he hasn't lost his temper as much as he did before, which I consider a positive sign that he's about to get used to the life here. I will try more intimate contact, like giving him a hug or something. You know, let him feel that someone values him and likes him, so he won't always think about going back."

Hagrid poked the sleeping giant hard with a branch, and the giant growled, his massive body stretching out, a broad palm the size of a sunshade propped up on the ground, and the thing above the arm that looked suspiciously like a head moved, as he woke up.

Felix raised his head and looked at the huddled giant rising from the ground. Legend had it that giants could fight a dragon on even ground, so he is rather curious about such a creature. Grawp has greyish white skin, a surprisingly huge face, and features that look like they have been cleaved out of a round stone; the only thing that Felix could associate remotely similar to this face is the face of the Mad-Eye Moody.

Grawp rubbed his eyes vigorously and then, without warning, stood up with astonishing agility. The crowd could now see more clearly, and they gaped at his short, stubby nose, crooked mouth, yellowed teeth, and cloudy brown-green eyes for a moment, in shock.

Before Harry had thought that Classroom Seven is simply omnipotent, but now he finally knew that something is missing; there are no giants there; the History of Magic textbooks describe giants as a totally inhuman beings, but Harry had always thought that these descriptions are a bit exaggerated, because he is surrounded by more realistic examples.

Hagrid is a half-giant, but he just looks like an oversized human, but this thing in front of him - this pureblood giant - is, as the books said, resembled a deformed humanoid monstrosity.

Felix's eyes settled on the giant's ankles, where a rope tethered around it, with the other end tied to a thick tree in the distance.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione kept backing away, not feeling much reassurance from the wand they are holding, the thing in front of them - well, it is Hagrid's half-brother - Grawp seems to be able to crush them with one finger.

"Ho--"

Grawp let out a deafening roar and yanked the other end of the rope around with a rattle, as dead silence fell over the forbidden forest except for the giant before them.

--

#Zogio, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 596 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

Grawp let out a deafening roar that made Felix's ears buzz.

"Hiss~" he took two steps back, shaking his head for a moment. That was too loud.

Hagrid stepped forward and tried to calm him down, but Grawp seemed to have gone berserk, flailing his arms around and stumbling on his feet as he tried to free himself from the rope around his ankles, but it seemed awfully sturdy that he failed to break free even after a hard struggle, so he took his bad temper on Hagrid.

"Oh my god." Hermione exclaimed.

Grawp's fist landed solidly on Hagrid's face and Hagrid, who was unprepared, fell to the ground on his back. Grawp wanted to keep attacking, "Hey! Big guy!" Sirius shouted at him as a flash of red light bounced off Grawp's rough skin.

Grawp yelled and lunged at them, "BANG!" Then tripped over the rope and fell, and then the earth seemed to shake as a bird's nest in a towering pine tree scattered as Sirius gulped.

Sirius leaned closer and said, "Felix, if you don't restrain him, I'll be forced to use a powerful spell."

"The ropes are sturdy." Felix said, suspecting it might have been enchanted by Dumbledore.

"Don't-" Hagrid said as he rolled over and sat up, covering his nose as blood snaked down his fingers. He slurred, "Little Grawp, listen, they mean no harm."

Felix's eyes glowed bright silver and then the air around them shook violently, like a vapour on a boiling caldron- Harry had felt something similar before, during the second task of the Tournament of Champions, he had witnessed a large part of the Black Lake shake violently, causing the surrounding scene to become disoriented.

Just like now.

But the change came and went quickly, as the folds in the atmosphere smoothed out, and he looked over at Professor Hap, as the wand in his hand subconsciously relaxed. The silver light in the Professor's eyes hadn't gone out, and the fine runes, like a ring of Saturn, swirled around his light blue pupils, which suggested that he had indeed done something.

Harry looked eagerly towards the clearing again, his eyes narrowed as he felt that everything around him looked out of place. It is as if ... the position had shifted.

Grawp rose from the ground agilely, moving much faster than he looked, and with incredible strength, he grabbed an uprooted pine tree in his hand and swung it around, the leaves rattled as he twirled it around like a small stick.

He soon found his target.

The 'Hagrid' had somehow managed to get to his feet, seemingly intact, and he lunged forward with his arms wide open, wrapping them around Grawp's waist and pushing him back as hard as he could.

The little sanity he had left also disappeared, and his powerful arm rose high in the air, and "Bang!"

The eyelids of those present jumped as Grawp hit the ground, the trunk of the tree struck Hagrid's head solidly, splattering the dirt like a bomb, but Grawp ignored everything and roared under his breath. He swung his hand around and smashed the surrounding ground, causing it to sink another few inches.

"Professor! Hagrid's-" Harry tried to rush up to him, his wand flashed with an intense glow as he ran forward, not thinking about the irrationality of the situation.

"I'm here." A voice said, and Harry stared at Hagrid, who had suddenly appeared out of thin air, and looking speechless in shock. The air rippled like water waves and the shadow of Grawp in the distance twisted strangely, which made him look even hideous.

Hagrid covered his nose with an extremely weird expression, especially the corner of his injured mouth twitched at the sight of his other self being beaten violently.

Sirius narrowed his eyes and looked closer, "Is this an illusion? No, not just an illusion, the environment is also changed, but if you look closely you can still spot the flaw, the airflow, the sense of touch ..." he spit his saliva on his hand and flung his wrist, "but it's perfect to use against an opponent who has lost his mind. "

"Cool." Ron said with a look of awe.

Harry agreed deeply.

Hermione asked suspiciously, " It doesn't seem like a mere illusion?"

The fake 'Hagrid' had taken quite a few of Grawp's punches' and even the trunk of the tree had broken in two just from smashing 'Hagrid' and the surrounding circle of the ground, but the 'Hagrid' remained unharmed and kept blocking Grawp's path again and again.

A normal illusion couldn't do that.

"Professor?"

"You're right." Felix nodded. He showed them the real scene, and instead of Hagrid, Grawp's opponent is a silver, bloated shadow - "The Patronus?" Harry gasped, he had practiced this magic over the holidays and had made quite a bit of progress, but still, his Patronus never took on a physical form.

"I combined the power of the Thinking Room to give it a brief moment of solidity." Felix explained.

He didn't use the Thinking Room to draw him in and blasted his conscious with magic, after all, Grawp is a bit different from a dark wizard and might be counted as a potential friendly force? He thought with less certainty, but more importantly, he was eager to try out his newly acquired abilities.

More than once he had dragged something from the thinking room to reality. From small models of buildings such as the Snowflake Gallery during the Quidditch World Cup, the Sword Castle in Diagon Alley, or the collection of books behind the door of the Thinking Room, or presenting nearly a thousand years of development in the non-magical world in a few seconds during a speech at the Ministry of Magic, or when he used the Thinking Room and Patronus to assist him in positioning himself to use instant kill tactics more quickly during a private battle with Voldemort ...

But it was only when Felix held the wand that matched his bloodline, origin, and emotions so well in the Ollivander wand shop that he instinctively used memory magic, where the images constructed in his mind appeared in reality in a more relaxed and direct way, subsequently overwriting scenes that actually existed in reality, which made him more interested in this magic.

Valen was the first to be affected. During the few days after that, she frequently found herself lost: the office carpet of the Sword Castle in Diagon Alley was suddenly replaced by a complex maze of building blocks. It only took her a few days to go from being uncomfortable to being excited about building a 'Niffler Castle' out of the blocks.

It had only been a matter of experimentation before, but today would be considered as the first battle in which the Thinking Room covered the real world.

Felix waved his hand and the Patronus faded away. For now, it is no match for the giant's strength. At best, it can Bluff and 'act' strong and powerful, but in reality, it is Grawp himself who has been misguided to stand in the same place.

In Grawp's mind, the nosy 'dwarf' had finally been knocked out by him, so he punched him some more, feeling frustrated that this man had brought him into an unfamiliar environment, and yesterday he had brought a white-bearded beanpole who had completely trapped him with a wave of his hand, and it was hard for his intelligence to find out why, but he was just angry and woke up just in time to find the culprit stabbing him with a small wooden stick ...

After venting, his pitifully little wisdom and sanity returned, and he paused in vague concern.

The dwarf was nice too, finding him food and talking to him, looking up at him with wet eyes, a gaze that Grawp did not dislike. And he could faintly sense that there seemed to be a bloodline connection between the two, a brother who is shorter than he?

A nearby area of dense forest became very quiet, even the chirping of insects and the rustling of leaves are missing.

In Grawp's eyes, Hagrid laid motionless on the ground, and he carefully picked up the branch that Hagrid had used to wake him up earlier and poked the non-existent Hagrid. Of course, Hagrid didn't move, so Grawp became anxious and went forward to pick him up, but Hagrid disappeared like a mass of smoke.

Grawp: "..."

He sat on the ground for a while, unable to figure out anything. Grawp judged with his limited wisdom that the dwarf had been killed by him.

"Ha~gg~er." The giant growled under his breath.

Hagrid danced around happily, "He remembers me, remembers my name! Did you see that? I taught him that." He looked eagerly at Felix, "Let me through." He said.

Felix hesitated, "Hagrid, he's not necessarily safe."

"It's alright, let me through." Hagrid said firmly.

--

#Mihael Medved, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 597 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

Felix cancelled the magic and the air shook again, and Harry felt the whole world become alive. Although it had been real earlier too, and he couldn't spot the 'Flaws' that Sirius had spoken about earlier, he could still feel the difference more tangibly.

The distant noises and howls of the unknown creatures, the whistling wind, the rustling of leaves, the faint sound of breath ...

'Not even close.' Felix thought silently. It is enough to deal with some magical creatures, but to fool a wizard, especially a keen one, it is nowhere near enough. But in any case, he had evolved the memory magic he had learned initially from Lady Rowena Ravenclaw and had finally stepped on the path that suited him best after a long process of evolution.

Hagrid approached Grawp, whose size paled in comparison to that of a real giant - still he stood about the same height as the sitting Grawp, who could only be considered a short man among giants, as a normal giant would measure between twenty and twenty-five feet tall.

"Little Grawp?" Hagrid called.

"Ha~gg~er!" Grawp looked at him with a considerably kinder look, at least he didn't come up swinging his fist.

"I thought he wanted to say the word 'hunger'." Ron said.

Sirius' hand rested on his shoulder as he shook it hard, "Don't be a buzzkill, look, quite a touching scene, isn't it?"

Grawp slowly reached out his big hand - a few onlookers sweated for Hagrid - but it stopped before it touched him, Grawp's hideous face harboured some sort of worry, what if he knocked the little shorty out of existence again?

Hagrid gleefully grabbed one of Grawp's fingers and said dotingly in the same tone he used with magical creatures, "It's all right, little Grawp, you just need some coaching, you don't even know how much strength you have yourself, do you?"

Harry suddenly remembered the Dursleys, is Grawp going to turn into a big Dudley later from all this doting? He shivered coldly at the thought of the giant freeing himself from the ropes and running through the Forbidden Forest on his big sled board-like feet, with Hagrid following in chase.

Grawp gave a low growl, then slurred, "Grawp! Haggar!".

Hagrid gushed with joy as he pulled Grawp's finger and looked back at the crowd, "Little Grawp, these are my friends. This is Harry, Ron, Hermione -" he stopped and looked at Hermione with an apologetic look, "Would you mind if he called you Hermy? It's too hard for him to remember your name."

"N-no, I w-won't mind it a bit." Hermione said snarkily.

Sirius snickered, earning a blank stare, but soon he wasn't able to laugh anymore.

"This is Sirius - oh, er, how about simplifying it to Ciri?" Hagrid said looking inquiringly at Sirius, who agreed with a grimace. So after a quick turnaround, everyone found themselves blessed with new names - except for Harry and Ron, whose names are inherently simple.

In Hagrid's mouth, Felix became Filli, Hermione became Hermy, and Sirius became Ciri.

"Hermy, do you hear me? Her-mee-" Hagrid said to Grawp, syllable by syllable, "And then, those two slightly larger ones are Filli and Ciri, you can tell the difference, can't you? "

The two referred to as Filli and Ciri shrugged their shoulders. Harry and Ron both looked like they wanted to laugh as they listened to Hagrid repeat the wrong pronunciation over and over again.

It seemed that he didn't need his help. Felix mentally thought that Dumbledore was too worried that Hagrid would be beaten to death by his cranky giant brother, but now at least there is a good start. After a long time, they headed back through the depths of the Forbidden Forest.

"I'm going to move nearby and stay with Grawp for a while, I need to find him food, and keep him company." Hagrid said. "If you guys are looking for me, you can just pass the message through the owls, don't come into the Forbidden Forest personally." He said to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Stop, Hagrid." Felix said, looking deeper into the Forbidden Forest.

Everyone stopped. With the help of the soft white light hanging overhead, they could see past the branches and bushes, and Sirius sniffled and cautioned, "Something's coming." Then they heard the sound of a branch snapping and strange footsteps.

A huge bowstring emerged from the green shadows and plucked away the leaves that blocked the way. "It's me, Hagrid." A topless male said, his human upper body connected with the horse's body from the waist up, and finally, Firenze's full-body stepped out of the shadows, his silver mane bathed in soft white light, and his hooves clattered.

"What brings you here?" Hagrid asked warily.

"I heard disturbances." Firenze asked in a low voice, "What's going on, Hagrid?"

"Nothing to do with you, this isn't centaur's territory." Hagrid replied stiffly.

"But I live in the Forbidden Forest." Firenze said, and the next second he turned abruptly, the bow in his hand pointed into the deep darkness, "Who's there?" His hooves dug into the ground.

The branches swayed and a horse with a shivered dragon-like face peeked out from the other side, its white glowing eyes timidly looking at them as if wondering why everyone had gathered so late. It stood at the edge where black shadow and white light intersected, and its leather-like black wings, obscured by the shrubs, could be faintly seen.

"So it's Thestral." Hagrid said with a sigh of relief.

"Aw, how could I forget you guys." Felix said softly, gazing at the magical creature.

Hermione looked at him suspiciously.

"Fascinating creature, isn't it? Some people can't see it, others can ... you can see it?" Felix suddenly stared at her.

"Um, yes." Hermione whispered anxiously, "In fact - the three of us -" she didn't continue, but the meaning of the words was clear enough. Harry and Ron both watched the Thestral with ogling eyes.

Sirius glared, "Harry, you didn't mention this."

"It's only been two days since school started, and I didn't get a chance to spend time alone with you." Harry muttered in a small voice.

"I couldn't see it before either, I mean the day school started," Ron said, "but I figured something out in the last two days ... it just dawned on me." Harry and Hermione looked at each other behind him as they too remembered the scene that had happened in the carriage at the start of the school year -

The carriage creaked and rattled down the road on September 1.

"You both can see it?" Inside the carriage, Ron nearly choked on his saliva as he stared blankly at Harry and Hermione, "You're not teaming up to trick me, right?"

"The reason you can't see it can only mean one thing, your barren brain hasn't worked in the slightest throughout the summer." Hermione said pointedly at Ron.

"Any word on that?" Harry asked. He knew about Thestral, but only a little.

"Seeing death, accepting it, and possibly some insight ... it's hard to explain." Hermione said distractedly.

"What do you think about the death of Crouch Jr?" Harry understood Hermione somewhat. So he turned to Ron and asked him.

"What else can you think, he deserved it," Ron said, his eyebrows furrowed, "You guys aren't feeling sorry for him are you?"

"Of course not," Harry instantly said, "So do you ever worry about the future? Ever thought ... your family or yourself might die in the war?" His voice became softer as he spoke, it is something he had been thinking about recently, why did his parents instead of fleeing abroad had stayed behind to fight the Death Eaters?

Ron looked uneasily to his left at Harry and to his right at Hermione.

"Isn't Dumbledore, and Professor Hap around, they'll sort it all out ..."

Hermione gave Harry a meaningful look, and Harry knew its implication, "See. He hasn't thought about it at all."

...

Sirius patted Harry and Ron on the shoulder and muttered something under his breath that no one could hear.

On the other side, Hagrid lowered his guard as he walked up to stroke Thestral's thin, bony body and gave it a few quick pats on the head at the end, "Come on, there's nothing to see. No food either, that's my nosebleed."

Firenze the centaur also backed away and disappeared, warning Hagrid before he left, "The elders of the tribe are very upset, and if you continue to bring those dangerous creatures from all over the world-"

After this interlude, Felix, Sirius, Harry, Ron, and Hermione parted from Hagrid in front of his hut and returned to the castle. The golden trio sat in the corner of the common room and were dazed for a good part of the night before they could barely digest the fact that Hagrid had hidden a giant in the Forbidden Forest.

"Hagrid won't be able to hide it for long, the centaur has a strong sense of territory, and they will think that Grawp is infringing their territory." Hermione said worriedly.

Harry didn't say anything. Isn't that kind of obvious? He could only pray that all would go well regarding Hagrid's educational plans, or that Grawp's mind isn't as retarded as he appears to be.

Meanwhile.

Felix returned to the ancient rune office and looked out across the bay window in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, "Death." The sound of his voice was faintly audible, and he wondered what the world looked like through Thestral's eyes.

If he is fortunate enough, he will soon find out.

--

#Mihael Medved, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 597 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

The next morning, Felix overslept on a rare occasion and missed the owl in the great hall. He randomly found a seat and sat down. In between sips of porridge, he looked thoughtfully at the students in the great hall; the number of newspaper subscriptions seemed to have increased.

Two seats away, a Ravenclaw student took her paper and quickly flipped through the headlines on the different pages, and let out a deep sigh of relief.

" Everything's peaceful."

Her friend had grown accustomed to her behaviour.

"Why don't we talk about the assessment spell?"

"What's there to talk about, all you need to master in fourth and fifth years is disarming charm, stunning spell, and shield charm, which I learned a long time ago." The Ravenclaw girl said with a toss of her hair before scrutinizing her friend, "Oh, I forgot, you're not interested in dueling and have never competed in one before ..."

Her friend rolled her eyes and then sighed, "I envy the first, second, and third years, all they need to do is master the side-along apparition. Absolutely easy, isn't it?"

" Don't be like that, mum told me that quite a few accidents involving group apparition are caused by young wizards who become overly nervous, small children who are not trained will subconsciously mobilize their magic to resist, resulting in apparition mishaps ..."

Felix listened halfway through, then focused on his breakfast, staring at the oatmeal and imagining them being a collection of runes, no, to be precise, a pattern that would stably carry magic.

A plan of digging a pitfall for Voldemort is progressing slowly.

He had been able to change into some magical creatures, but that didn't mean that everything is fine; in fact, he had never thought of fighting Voldemort in his magical creature form. It would be too difficult, even if they are indeed magical in some ways, but just look at the belief Newt promoted - no magical creature could defeat a well-established wizard (because they're less intelligent).

Only by transforming the magical talents of multiple magical creatures into runic magic and using them with a wizard's body would they be considered potent, but while the two are inextricably linked historically, that doesn't mean that magical creatures actually have a distinct rune, or runic circuit, inside them.

What Felix had to do is 'create' ancient magic by himself, just like the original group of ancient wizards did, and the volume of work involved in this process is quite high.

The first step is transforming into a magical creature, then using the body of a magical creature to experience their magical talents, feel the mysteries of the magical creature's bloodline, and experience how his own magic flows and works. He must repeat this process over and over again to get a vague pattern - something that looks like a jumble of capillaries or a complexly intertwined Devil's Snare.

This is what ancient wizards saw when they dissected magical creatures.

After that, it is just a matter of trying and practising to extract one rune after another.

The biggest problem Felix faced was that he was not always able to find the right rune to match the magical structure of the magical creature, so he had to "create" his own rune, which would undoubtedly lead to a thousand failures.

But the good news is, he is on the right track, and he keeps getting better. That is all that matters.

Despite the tediousness of the process, Felix enjoyed it, especially the significant views that developed during the process. For example, magical creatures derive their magical abilities from their own bloodline and unique physical structure, but what about wizards?

Felix suspects that the soul plays quite an important role in the process. One piece of evidence is that only wizards can transform into ghosts; neither ordinary people nor magical creatures can.

He was quite fascinated by these types of thoughts, and even as Felix stood on the podium, his mind wandered with all sorts of whimsical ideas. At his level, the theory and practical aspects of magic were becoming more and more outside the bounds of belief, and every step forward represented an overturning of the perception of magic in the eyes of ordinary wizards.

This is true both in terms of the act of recreating magical creature talents using runes and bringing memory magic to reality by tailoring Lady Rowena Ravenclaw's memory magic.

" Take out the rune carving knife. I will reserve a few lessons for you to get used to your new tool, after which you will realize that it actually works better than a wand in some ways, especially if you intend to do some fine manipulation." Felix said calmly, "Today is a practical lesson, and I need you to write down the practical runes and runic circuits you have learned over the past two years on a chestnut board."

The students moved and went to the podium in order to get their chestnut boards and returned to their seats to start practising.

"A bit too easy, isn't it?" Ron said cheerfully, "We practised it in the Magic Rune Club before."

"It is indeed easy for us, but-" Hermione cut the palm-sized chestnut boards into slips, each one just about the size of her index finger, as she smoothly wrote down a string of ancient runes, and looked up at the rest of the class with satisfaction.

"Bang!"

The chestnut slab in Seamus' hand suddenly exploded, and a cloud of smoke and fire spread out.

Felix waved his hand and the smoke and flames disappeared at the same time, " Keep your eyes open, Student Finnegan, you need to focus more on your board, instead of looking at me." He said as he looked up from a three-dimensional pattern made up of ancient runes, his gaze swept around the room and a number of students lowered their heads sheepishly.

"When are we going to be like the Professor?" Harry couldn't resist asking, the runes in the professor's hand looked like specks of fine gold dust, glistening in the sunlight.

"The Professor told me not to be overly ambitious." Hermione said sadly, obviously, she had asked a similar question, she then grinned widely, "But the Professor complimented me on my explorations and experiments on the runes."

She gestured at the work she had just finished, and Harry and Ron glanced over from the side and smacked their lips in secret. Dense ancient runes were inscribed on the small slab of chestnut wood that belonged to Hermione, if you didn't look closely it looked like it had been scribbled on with ink.

"Hermione ... it's not going to blow up right?" Harry asked with trepidation, recognizing what this thing really is - dozens of blast circuits that subtly crammed together in a palm-sized area, which linked together crookedly with a golden line that shone with a pulsing light.

"Don't worry, I've combined the blast circuits with the stability circuits, you have to use a specific frequency of magic to trigger it, and that frequency is something only I know." Hermione smirked as she tucked the chestnut slab into her little beaded pouch while Harry and Ron gulped.

Hermione seemed to be getting scarier and scarier, especially over the summer when the Professor came over every now and then and Hermione asked questions during their conversations, which led to her research rapidly reaching a level that they didn't understand at all, for example, the term 'specific frequency of magic'.

At one point the professor said to her, "I've thought about creating different levels of awards for individuals or groups who have made outstanding contributions to the field of ancient runes, but the conditions are not ripe yet ... If I ever created it, would you like to contribute your name? The Hermione Granger Award?"

Harry believed that the professor's tone sounded serious with no hint of a joke.

For the next few moments, he began to imitate Hermione, writing the runic circuits in a smaller and smaller sizes, and when he looked up during the break, the mass of runic symbols in the professor's hand had shaped into a vividly realistic Occamy.

At the weekend Felix held the first Magic Rune Club assembly of the school year, and the members of the club beamed with joy, exchanging recent incidences with each other.

"Professor Sprout promised to write me a letter of recommendation, but I haven't figured out where to go yet, I mean, Dad wants me to get into the Ministry of Magic, but ..." Cedric said, with a gentle smile on his face.

"Mum sent me a new dress and a book." Neville said, "I thought I had left something behind again, but I didn't, it was just a simple gift."

In the corner, Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione in a sullen tone, "'Pumpkin Pie' invited us to tea because his brother had learned ten new words." Pumpkin Pie is the new codename they have given to Hagrid because Hagrid doesn't want anyone else to know that he has returned, as it would make his absence from class conspicuous.

If Grawp's presence were to be exposed, things could get very messy.

"I don't want to put Dumbledore in a difficult position," Hagrid wrote in his replay, "if parents became aware of the presence of an uncontrolled giant in the Forbidden Forest they would make an unnecessary alarm ... I think it is not appropriate for young Grawp to appear in public until he learns the necessary manners."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all agreed on this point, except for a slight disagreement on the term 'unnecessary alarm'.

"I don't want to go." Ron said in a hushed voice, greatly repulsed by the invitation, "I'm not trying to shirk it, but we have a lot to do, we have Quidditch practice this afternoon, and Angelina was very upset about our absence yesterday, and I don't want my name to be brushed off by her. In case she decided that Hooper's nagging and bossing isn't that unbearable ..."

Ron's concerns weren't unfounded; at Friday's Quidditch try-outs, Ron had only come in third. He was able to claim the keeper's spot because Angelina felt that both Vicky Frobisher and Geoffrey Hooper ahead of him had obvious flaws: the former valued the 'Charms Club' more, and the latter grumbled at the drop of a hat, complained about petty things, and tried to get Angelina to follow his plan.

Weighing up the options, Angelina ended up picking Ron to take Wood's place as keeper.

They ended up skipping their first official training session yesterday because they had to go to the Potions class office for detention, which was awful, as Snape gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione a large bucket full of potion ingredientsfor each to handle, which would be used for all seven grades, and Harry still smelt the lingering smell of Mandrake mixed with rat innards under his fingernails.

"... Not to mention all the assignments, now I wish he'd come back to his real job, Professor Grubbly-Plank leaves us a ton of assignments, why would I need to sketch ten Bowtruckles? It's not like I'm planning to become a painter!" Ron said with vehemence.

"It's O.W.Ls year and the Bowtruckles are the focus of the exam every other year." Hermione pointed out the unpleasant truth.

Harry and Ron stared at her.

"Ugh, but of course, I hope he will come back too." Hermione shrugged. "Hey, Luna." She turned to look at Luna, "How was your holiday?"

"Very good, Dad managed to secure a deal." Luna said gleefully, as she invited Hermione enthusiastically, "I'm going to see Firenze this afternoon, do you want to come?"

"Oh, uh, okay." She looked left and right, but since Harry and Ron had to go to training, and she really couldn't find an excuse, she ended up agreeing pitifully.

"Students." Felix smiled as he settled back comfortably on his armchair, "Welcome back, and before the assembly begins, let me make an announcement: the Future World Company and the Ancient Rune Society have collaborated to create a monthly magazine called The New Solutions to the Rune, and for the time being, the magazine The Quibbleris will handle this venture - "

Harry, Ron, and Hermione immediately looked at Luna.

" - And for the temporary period, I personally will act as editor-in-chief, so if you are planning to submit a manuscript in the near future, you can forward it directly to Miss Granger, who will organize it and give it to me. On a side note, the manuscript fee is very public-friendly. The call for submissions is here--"

Felix waved his wand and a pile of flyers flew up from the table and landed in each person's hand with precision.

"Elder Wand." Hermione muttered as she stared at his wand.

"What did you say?" Harry became very sensitive to this word, after all, this was the reason they were in detention.

"I've recently found the book The Tales of Beedle the Bard to read through." Hermione said briefly, "Shhh, I'll talk about it later." Professor Hap's eyes looked over, so she closed her mouth and sat upright.

On the side, Luna looked at her, with burning eyes.

...

"The Deathly Hallows?" Harry's mouth dropped open in surprise, they had only just emerged out of the Magic Rune Club when Luna caught up with them.

"That's right." Luna affirmed, "The Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone that brings the dead back to life, and the Cloak of Invisibility that allows you to hide from the Death; together these three items represent the Deathly Hallows, the possessor of which will become the Master of the Death."

"Nonsense," Hermione raised an eyebrow, "that's just a fairy tale, something like the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, it doesn't exist in reality!"

"But they do exist, and countless wizards obsess over them." Luna said calmly, "Dad tried to convince Florean to join him in his search for the Deathly Hallows when they were young, but he refused, pretending that his ancestors had never owned the Elder Wand."

"Who's Florean, the name sounds a bit familiar?" Ron asked.

"He's the owner of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour." Luna said.

" No way that's true!" Hermione said firmly, "I'll write to him and ask him for clarification."

Harry, however, drifted back to the time when he had sat under the brightly coloured sunshade outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour to do his assignment; he had previously been so focused on the free supply of ice cream that he had never realized that the shop's owner knew everything about his History of Magic assignment. Although Harry didn't know the exact age of the ice cream parlour owner, he guessed he had graduated at least thirty or forty years before, would he remember his knowledge from school so well if he isn't an avid fan of the history of magic?

"He won't write back to you, he disappeared." Luna said, "The neighbours speculate that he may have moved abroad because he feared the war. Because the Ministry of Magic Aurors who patrols Diagon Alley day and night didn't hear any alarm from the warning device. This incident is written in an obscure corner of today's newspaper."

--

#Mihael Medved, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 598 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

A clearing in the forbidden forest.

Felix looked at the Thestral that he had lured with a blood-soaked dead bull and felt satisfied.

"Hagrid told me this tip, and it looks like you guys like it?" Felix said as the two Thestrals leaned down, exposing their thin bony necks and tearing down the dead bull, "And he said you guys are smart, so you must be able to understand me right?... I need a little help from you."

Thestrals did not utter a sound and enjoyed the feast in silence. Although they are omnivores and will eat all kinds of grass, fruit, and meat, it is not every day that they get to eat fresh blood-soaked bull meat. As he talked, another Thestral cautiously poked its head out of the forest, looking at its two companions and the strange wizard, debating whether to come out.

The sound of constant chewing attracted the new one, who soon joined in.

Seeing his chance, Felix placed his hand in the mane of the nearest Thestral, and he felt like he is touching a tough, thick membrane of skin, with no flesh beneath it.

Thestral looked up uneasily and stared at Felix with bright white eyes.

"Eat up, eat up." He said with a smirk, patting its bare head smoothly, his eyes looked like a big grey wolf eyeing a little white rabbit, and Thestral waved its long black tail and looked down again to tear the bull meat with its sharp teeth.

The new Thestral was a little alarmed and spread its huge wings warily, but neither Felix nor its companion paid any attention to it, and after a long stand-off it seemed to find its behaviour a little tiresome and far less important than the food on the ground, so it just snorted when Felix touched its smooth, hairless body.

Felix smiled slightly as his body began to morph.

...

"I still can't accept it, to me, it looks more like Beedle was mocking the whole Deathly Hallows legend, because none of the three brothers escaped death in the end, even the oldest who got the invisibility cloak met death with open arms, Deathly Hallows was less useful than a Philosopher's Stone when it came to beating death, at least Nicolas Flamel actually lived for 600 years or so! "

Hermione, Luna, and Ginny walked down the path at the edge of the Forbidden Forest while arguing over the topic they had just discussed.

"That's because they were not recognized." Luna said in an ethereal voice.

"What recognition?"

"I don't know." Luna said dreamily, "Maybe it's some sort of ritual, or a pre-planned activation method or," she looked blankly into Hermione's and Ginny's eyes, "according to my dad, the only way to master the power of three Hallows is to possess all three of them at the same time."

Hermione's face showed a look of extreme disapproval, but she asked calmly, "Is it about that strange symbol you showed?"

"Maybe." Luna said.

"Let's talk about something else," Ginny hurriedly said, her interest in the subject waning, "Luna, do you have your bone whistle with you?"

" Brought it." Luna said cheerfully, as she pulled a thin cord woven from a stalk of grass from her neck, which had an ash-white whistle attached to it.

Hermione glanced at it, "Is that the one Hagrid gave us?"

"Yeah," Luna said, "It can summon the little creatures Hagrid keeps, but there are no dangerous creatures at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, so I sometimes use it to attract Unicorns, Thestrals ... and Firenze." After saying that she looked around with her head probing, with the look of a thief, "Don't tell Firenze, he will become unhappy."

" Can Centaur also hear such a sound?" Hermione asked intrigued, it is an interesting piece of knowledge.

"Of course, they can." Luna said seriously, "He's not always around though, we have to try it in a few different places."

They walked through a patch of bushes, vaguely smelling the scent of blood, and Luna pushed aside a large bush to reveal a group of six or seven Thestrals huddled together in the clearing.

"Wow, what luck." Luna said.

"Someone been here," Hermione muttered to herself as she stared at the dead bull that only consisted of a half skeleton and little meat on the ground, "Was it Hagrid? But it's unlikely that he would focus on other creatures now when he had to deal with a bloody mess ..."

Luna had bounced into the clearing and greeted Thestrals enthusiastically.

Thestrals had long been familiar with her, so they simply raised their eyes to gaze at her and lowered their heads to feast again, allowing Luna to pet them.

Ginny stared at the piece of meat on the ground, she couldn't see Thestrals, but could see a chunk of meat detaching from the bone and disappearing into the air, followed by the creepy chewing sound, "It feels so awful, like there's an invisible mouth full of sharp teeth in the air, and you don't know when you're going to walk up to it of your own will... ..."

"This Thestral is weird." Hermione said, and Luna turned her head to look at the unique Thestral - it laid quietly on the ground, and somehow the two could feel a tranquil aura from its thin, bony face, its eyes half-closed, showed no surprise or unease at their arrival.

"Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you before." Luna asked in a whisper as she crouched in front of it.

Thestral glanced at her and closed its eyes completely as if it didn't want to pay any attention to her.

Luna skilfully grabbed a handful of grass from the ground and brought it to Thestral's mouth, which moved its mouth away and looked at her with blank eyes.

"Oh, you are not hungry?"

"Luna, the book says Thestral is dangerous, even the ones in the Forbidden Forest that were trained by Hagrid," Hermione said, not having a trace of confidence in the word 'safety' that came out of Hagrid's mouth when she thought about the Acromantulas and giant Grawp that he kept in the Forbidden Forest.

The bone whistle that Hagrid had given her was placed in the innermost section of the beaded pouch, and she didn't think she'd ever use it.

"But I feel like it's friendly." Luna said, as her light-coloured eyes twinkled, and then she turned her head and addressed the Thestral that had been lying on the ground, " Aren't you?"

The Thestral suddenly opened its mouth wide at her, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth and emitting a "grrr" sound that startled the three of them. Ginny stumbled back and stared blankly at the air, "What happened?"

Even Thestrals, that had been eating, stopped and looked over.

"They're friendly, aren't they?" Hermione asked snappily.

Luna didn't answer as she examined Thestral closely, "It's strange, you give me a completely different feeling. So many harassing Wrackspurts flying overhead ... Huh? It's gone in a flash." Luna said in awe.

"Come on Luna, let's go somewhere else ... we can come back another time." Hermione pulled Luna and Ginny away, Luna fawned over the unique Thestral, "Maybe I can be friends with it, it could be the king of this pack of Thestrals in the Forbidden Forest ..."

In her final sight, the Thestral raised from the ground and joined the other Thestrals as they " da da da da " walked deeper into the forest.

"Look, it's walking very differently too."

In the middle of the day, Felix emerged from another part of the forbidden forest, wiping the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead, feeling that everything that had happened today was very bizarre.

The next two weeks were peaceful, except for one afternoon when he and Snape met in the corridor where Snape warned him, "I gave the man the information about the 'Elder Wand' and he didn't ask me to do something concerning that, so I think he has another plan."

Hearing this, Felix took the time to return to Diagon Alley and check the sword castle from top to bottom, the entire defence system was functioning well and everything was in order.

The weather began to turn cooler at the end of September. On another typical weekend, Felix and Valen appeared in the Great Hall, both wearing a Scarf each, Valen sat on a stack of thick books and enjoyed steaming pumpkin pie, which Felix had thoughtfully sliced up.

After finishing that, Felix became keenly aware of the murmurs and odd glances directed at him in the great hall.

"What's going on?" He called out to a student who was about to leave after eating.

The student first glanced curiously at his chest, waist side, and pockets as if looking for something, then handed him a newspaper. "You should read the front page, Professor Hap." The student said.

Felix opened the paper and got surprised by the headline on the front page of the Daily Prophet, which read "Top Ten Wands in History".

"Kee! (Let's look together!)" Valen called out.

So he spread the paper on the table and read it with Valen.

'There is no doubt about the importance of wands to wizards. Since the day the wand was created, there has been no shortage of legends about powerful wands, and people have enjoyed these rumours; in people's perception, powerful wands and powerful wizards are closely related, but it is impossible to come to an accurate conclusion whether it is the wizard who fosters the wand's prestige, or the wand that shapes the wizard's power.

However, it is well known that Mr. Ollivander, one of Europe's most prestigious wand makers, made a well-known quote: the wand chooses the wizard. The Wandlore philosophy also suggests that every wand is different, which leads us to wonder: are there really wands that are inherently extraordinary? Are they like unknown treasures, lying quietly in a velvet box in a wand shop, waiting for an owner worthy of them?

The author has searched through a vast array of documents to find ten of the most prestigious wands in history and has ranked them according to the influence of their owners for your reference.

Note: The wands of some of the great wizards in history are not considered famous, as they never deliberately declared the role of the wand in contributing to their great achievements, so they are excluded from consideration for the time being.

Number 10: Deathstick, length unknown, Elder wood, wand core material unknown.

Its owner was a notorious dark wizard, Loxias, who used vile means to kill the 'fearsome warlock' Barnabas Deverill, to acquire his wand, which was later renamed by him as Deathstick. Since then, he has conquered all his enemies. Renowned for dotingly stroking his new wand each time he defeated an opponent and loudly proclaiming that his wand is an embodiment of Death, his classic quote was: Face me and die.

He ended up dying in a tavern, and it is unknown who his killer was. Because of his cruel and tyrannical nature, many people claimed to have killed him, but no one was able to show his wand.

Number 9: Old Hammer's Wand ...

Number 8: Godelot's wand.

This wand is famous because its owner saw it as a partner and even a mentor, and he used its power and knowledge to write "Magick Moste Evile", as Godelot called his wand, "my most evil and mysterious friend".

Number 7: Salazar Slytherin's wand, length unknown, Snakewood, Basilisk horn core.

In this case, the wizard and the wand are evenly matched in terms of their fame, and their combination scared the wizards of their time; it is rumoured that in his youth Slytherin wielded a snake-wood wand and commanded snakes, and many wizards did not even dare to approach him (except for his close friend Gryffindor) and at a certain point of time the wand in his hand took the form of a walking stick, according to the photographic material that has survived; Its wand core made of Basilisk's horn, a creature that is known for its power to kill enemies with just a look.

The current whereabouts of this wand is unknown. Note: Of the four founders of Hogwarts, only Salazar Slytherin has descendants who are still surviving, so this wand may have passed through the hands of one of the branches.

Number 6: Destiny wand, length unknown, wood unknown, wand core unknown.

The wand was owned by an unknown wizard, who was active for an even shorter time than Loxias; A hooded dark wizard challenged a group of the most prestigious dueling masters of the time in just three months, leaving just a handful of survivors, but the challenge came to an abrupt end three months later, with rumours of sighting his suspected body in a foul ditch, but there is no way to prove it.

When he had slain a powerful man, he had said in a low voice: I am with destiny. Thus, his wand was known as Destiny Wand.

The ultimate whereabouts of this wand is unknown.

Number 5: Wand of Morgan le Fay (Morgana), wand information unknown.

King Arthur's half-sister, Merlin's enemy. Morgan ruled as Queen of the Island of Avalon and gained a significant part of her authority through her magical powers.

Number 4: Merlin's Wand, length and wand core unknown, made of English oak.

Merlin's fame speaks for itself.

Number 3: the wand of Gellert Grindelwald, information unknown.

The reason this wand is remembered has a lot to do with its owner, and there are rumours that the Dark Lord once described his wand as 'the best one', and judging by what he has accomplished, there is no doubt about it.

This wand disappeared into history with the legendary duel back in 1945, which may have been destroyed in the duel or in the custody of the British Ministry of Magic, or hidden in the hands of a particular great wizard.

Number 2: the wand of 'He Who Must Not Be Named', thirteen and a half inches, yew wood, with a phoenix feather wand core.

It is well known that wands with a phoenix feather wand core are rare and powerful, and each one is an excellent piece of work. The wand of 'He Who Must Not Be Named' was made of a phoenix feather. This wand proves that claim.

It is presumed that this wand was destroyed fourteen years ago.

Number 1: Elder Wand, length unknown, elder wood, wand core unknown.

The name derives from a fairy tale in The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and I'm sure many people remember it and even imagined possessing this invincible wand as children, although they would leave these childhood fantasies behind them as they grew up.

But there is no shortage of people who still tirelessly research the authenticity of the Elder Wand when they grow up. According to them, Beedle the Bard based his story heavily on real history, and the poet Beedle played a trick on us to satisfy his literary romance by suggesting that the actual deeds of the Elder Wand might have been taken from one of the above-mentioned wands.

This wand is placed first because it seems to have an extreme condition for choosing a master, as the wand's allegiance can only be obtained by killing the previous owner. In other words, anyone who gets it can gain its power.

The whereabouts of the Elder Wand were once unknown, but a rumour surfaced recently that Felix Hap, the Ancient Rune Professor at Hogwarts who had previously made a splash at the Quidditch World Cup finals, had unintentionally called his wand the Elder Wand, but whether he named it a reference to the fairy tale, or whether he actually held the legendary wand that was historically invincible, we have no way of knowing.'

In the Great Hall.

Felix squeezed the newspaper, with only one thought in his mind, he wanted to curse.

Voldemort's killing move had arrived unannounced.

--

#Mihael Medved, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 598 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

Felix put away the paper, "Kee!" Valen shouted.

She hasn't finished reading yet!

"Well, seriously, you should improve your reading speed, where are you reading now?"

The fork in Valen's hand pointed at the middle section of the paper.

"The snakewood wand?" Felix muttered, "I'll tell you a story about the Chamber of Secrets and Slytherin some other time." He continued to sip his oatmeal, unconcerned by the various curious gawking in the great hall. After a calm breakfast, he appeared in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts.

There is already a visitor inside.

A short, chubby, balding man squeezed his bloated body into an armchair, one of his fat hands picked up a sugar-glazed pineapple from a nearby box as his mouth kept chewing, his thick walrus-like silver moustache smeared with bits of sugar glaze.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, I have something to ask you." Felix didn't move as he measured the man, who is dressed in a maroon and purple velvet tunic with shiny brass buttons that issued an unpleasant sound as he made a swallowing motion.

His strange eating habit is comparable to the sight of Thestral eating, but Thestral is much thinner than the man in question.

Slughorn absently glanced at Felix, and the movements of his mouth abruptly stopped, "That's him, isn't it, Albus?" He asked, looking at Dumbledore, who is seated opposite him and looked pitifully thin compared to him.

"Felix Hap," Felix said politely, "if you want to ask my name."

"Ah, of course, who else has the ability to impress me this much." The wizard said, jumping nimbly out of his chair and reaching into his shirt pocket with his other clean hand, pulling out a soft purple velvet handkerchief and meticulously wiping his fingers twice.

"I've been looking for a chance to meet you," he said, extending his chubby hand to Felix, "the great Felix Hap, the pride of Slytherin."

"You flatter me," Felix said, shaking his hand, his fingers felt sticky when he let go, but he knew it was a psychological effect. He asked tentatively, "Mr. Slughorn?"

The wizard raised his eyebrows at once, his bulging stomach twitched with some pattern.

"Come sit here ..." Slughorn motioned for him to sit closer to him in the tone of the owner of the house, Dumbledore's lips brimmed with a smile as if he found it amusing, Valen jumped off Felix's shoulder and tugged at Dumbledore's pant leg. Pointing her little pink finger at Fawkes, who is standing on a roost having a nap.

"Kee?"

A candy suddenly appeared in Dumbledore's hand like a muggle magic trick which he handed to Valen with a wink, "Sharing is the gateway to friendship."

"I agree with you, Dumbledore." Slughorn said as he sat down, side by side with Felix, his body squirming back in his chair to adjust the best angle, in the middle of it he sighed as his body leaned against the back of the chair, "Want a piece, Felix?" He asked rather enthusiastically.

"No, thanks." Felix said, "Allergic to sweets these days."

" I had those moments too," Slughorn said with a big smile, picking up another pastry in his hand, "Always had a preference for a certain sweet for a while and gorged myself on it, then for years, I would never touch it again ... That was in my younger days, now I prefer to have some of each."

"A very wise comment." Felix said briefly, only it would have been better if he hadn't used his sweet tooth as an example. He watched silently as Valen climbed onto the slender-legged table and locked eyes with the Phoenix Fawkes that stood on the gilded roost, Valen wobbled on the table with the sweets in her hands as Fawkes squinted at her.

Dumbledore and Slughorn also looked at them with interest.

"The Cockroach Clusters, some people don't like it, in fact, it has a special flavour." Dumbledore said, and as he spoke, Fawkes darted its head out from its roost and snatched the cockroach-shaped candy from Valen's hand, swallowing it with a crisp " crack, chunk" sound.

The three simultaneously withdrew their gaze in satisfaction.

"Ah, I'll go get what you want." Dumbledore suddenly said to Slughorn as he stood up and made his way around the revolving staircase to the first floor.

As his figure disappeared up the stairs, Felix felt Slughorn's gaze flicker as he measured him.

"You're more talkative than I thought," he said after a few seconds, "I mean, so many people have mentioned you in their letters and I can't help but find it strange that they're so widely divergent in their opinions about you."

"That's not strange." Felix said.

"Oh, uh, you're right, everyone has their own standpoint, and I've heard rumours, like your muggle origin ... although I personally don't care about that at all - it's true!" Slughorn said, and next, to prove his point that he has no prejudice against bloodlines, he went on at considerable length about the contacts he knew, " who are being in key positions." and many of them are wizards from Muggle families.

Felix, on the contrary, discerned a passion for " collection " in the expression on his face. So Felix hinted that he should write a memoir of all the talented students he had taught, and Slughorn beamed when he heard it, feeling like he had met his soulmate.

" I discovered when I was the head of Slytherin that young wizards from Muggle origins always had all sorts of novel ideas to offer ... Of course, I mean the smart ones. From that point of view, their presence is necessary to bring fresh blood into the ageing wizarding world ... What a shame I retired a few years in advance." He stared at Felix with burning eyes, as if regretting that he had missed a treasure.

"Do you still keep in touch with those students?" Felix asked, from what little he had heard over the summer, this elderly gentleman lived in a rather isolated area.

"Alas, I had planned to hide away and avoid the spotlight. You know, it's going to get messy out here soon, and I don't want to mix with that dangerous bunch that much, but they certainly will find me ... I have a feeling about that," Slughorn said, "and that was when Dumbledore approached me."

He looked somewhat indignant as he continued, "He wanted something from me, oh I can't say exactly what it-" he shook the sugar icing that dripped in his fingers, "I've worked with him for very long and know his character well, he won't stop until he gets what he wants. And he even brought a little one together to convince me!"

Felix smiled, he knew who that little one is, it was Harry.

" Well, since we are talking in private, I'll just say this, it was a despicable move on his part." Slughorn came over and whispered, in a knowing manner, "But it was brilliant, he poked me in the soft spot, I'm growing soft as I getting old, especially when dealing with the child of my favourite student ..." he sighed deeply, his walrus moustache comically cocked up, "Incidentally, she's also of Muggle origin."

"Lily was a genius, quick-witted, resourceful, and knew how to pay back ... Ever since she found out about my birthday, she sent a thoughtful gift every year, never belated, even after she graduated a gift would come. When I read in the paper that she had been killed, I knew that no one would gift me a warm knee pad again ... Alas, as the saying goes, good people don't live long." He muttered, picking up his handkerchief and blowing his nose heavily.

Felix didn't have a clue how to respond nor whether he should respond back, so he simply waited for him to change the subject.

"You don't know how Dumbledore pries open other people's mouths, do you? He made sure to bring me some wine on my birthday, and he claimed he was there to celebrate the occasion, but he couldn't fool me, and I know what was on his mind! But I couldn't say no to a nice dinner, even if it was from a person with an ulterior motive. ... The worst part was that he used me and then dumped me. I asked him to introduce me to the other two youngest Order of Merlin recipients, but he kept brushing me off by saying I wasn't a school professor, so I couldn't bother them... ...and he actually suggested that I should write them a letter!"

Slughorn looked indignant.

At that moment, Dumbledore appeared on the staircase and spoke in an amused tone of voice

"My dear Horace, I certainly have nothing against you. In fact, I've been approached by the press for some time to organize some interviews with them, but I've turned them all down in the name that it would interfere with their studies, and I don't think it's a good thing to let them know too soon that they have a sudden influx of admirers; it would muddle their little brains."

Dumbledore said, handing him a package.

"Thanks," Slughorn said with a rare smile and struggled to get up from his armchair to take the package. He grabbed a handful of Floo powder and sprinkled it into the fireplace, where a turquoise flame flared up. "I'll be back, Dumbledore!"

Slughorn stepped one foot into the flames, and hesitated, then withdrew it as he fished a small vial out of his pocket and tossed it to Felix, "Pass it on to Harry Potter for me, and tell him it's his belated birthday present."

He stepped into the flames, holding the parcel, and disappeared with a very comical spin.

Felix looked at the thumb sized vial in his hand, it is the Felix Felicis. He casually put it away and looked at Dumbledore and asked in a deep voice, "Albus, I need to speak to you."

"Is it about the Elder Wand?"

"You also saw today's paper?" Felix asked.

"More than just today's paper." Dumbledore said.

"What?"

"I got in touch with some friends in France, Bulgaria, Norway, and even America this morning, and they told me they had seen similar articles as well, but not today, with the earliest reports dating back to a week ago."

Felix furrowed his brow.

Well, Voldemort's plan to kill three birds with one stone had been executed thoroughly, in his perception Voldemort's purpose would be three, one to cause him some hassle and keep him occupied with other things for months, two to test the authenticity of the Elder Wand with the lives of others, and as for three, Voldemort may have harboured a hidden expectation that he and Dumbledore would fall out over this matter.

After all, it is possible that if he stayed at the school, some dark wizards would snoop around the school every other day, and it might be possible that Dumbledore would become unhappy because of it. If he is Voldemort, he absolutely would take this opportunity to control a few unlucky people to make a move to infiltrate the school, together with some public opinion campaign ...

But with all this drama, Felix had a feeling that Voldemort might have other plans.

The school? The Ministry of Magic? Or the sword castle? He mentally mulled it over.

"Voldemort has finally found some work for the holed up Death Eaters." He said sarcastically.

"This move certainly did catch us off guard, I'm sure we wouldn't have been so passive if this news had been limited to England ... by this time there could have been a number of people illegally infiltrating the country." Dumbledore said, "I contacted Amelia, and she will be coming over later."

Felix nodded.

" What are you going to do next?" Dumbledore asked.

"Two things ... The first is to ask Ms. Bones to clarify the whole situation to the public; her word is more convincing than mine. With her as a witness, at least the British magical community will not be in chaos."

"Makes sense." Dumbledore said with a smile on his face.

"The second thing," Felix's eyes twinkled with a strange light, " Let the news out that I have the means to prove the doubts of the outside world, and both native British wizards and 'foreign' wizards are welcome to 'witness' it. " He added more emphasis to the word witness.

For a moment, he looked sharp.

The so-called witness was merely a euphemism for a challenge.

You claim I hold the Elder Wand, but I don't even need it to defeat you, I can easily destroy all those who covet the power of the Elder Wand with just an empty hand. Felix grinned, revealing his sharp white teeth, he started to actually look forward to that day.

"Felix ...," Dumbledore paused.

"Don't worry," Felix glanced at him, "I won't randomly take people's lives if it's possible, but don't expect anything pleasant to happen to them either." In truth, if this incident had happened to Voldemort, the dark shadows who think they're strong would only envy and fear him more, but in his case, it would turn into a hassle.

He seemed to have stayed too low for a long while.

On British territory it would be alright, some of his 'deeds' circulated vaguely in the dark corners, so no one would seek him out lightly.

But in abroad, his name and reputation paled in comparison to here, well, not really, Felix thought, quite a few people had seen him in action at the Quidditch World Cup, but he just couldn't say exactly how effective it would be.

The clock pointed to eleven o'clock when the flames in the fireplace rose high again.

Amelia Bones came out of it in a dusty state.

"You're both here," she froze for a moment, then spoke on, "It's been confirmed that a group of people were indeed illegally entered, and Kingsley raided Knockturn Alley and Hogsmeade with an Auror squad and caught a dozen foreign wizards, two of whom are even wanted criminals on the run from other countries. "

"The number in the shadows will only be higher." Dumbledore said lightly.

"We think so too." Ms. Bones said.

"There's something wrong with the Daily Prophet - its editor-in-chief should be under an Imperius Curse." Felix abruptly said.

"That's right, we tested it with Thief's Downfall, but Barnabas Cuffe doesn't remember anything, and it's hard to tell if it's a sham." Ms. Bones said, she paused and looked at Felix, "Mr. Hap, I was wondering, the wand you're holding ..."

Felix waved his hand and a black wand flew towards her.

"I did get a new wand custom-made by Mr. Ollivander - a replica of my first wand, thirteen inches, ebony, the only difference is that the wand core was replaced with my own hair." Felix said as he made a please gesture.

Ms. Bones gave an apologetic expression, "Excuse me." She picked up the wand and gave it a flick, the wand didn't respond and was even resisting her magic.

"You should be able to spot the characteristics of it, extremely exclusive, and it serves no one but me," Felix said softly, as he calmly opened his hand and the wand stiffly broke free from Ms. Bones' hand and spontaneously flew over, circling him while emitting an excited buzzing sound.

"So you should also be able to tell that this is the perfect wand for me."

Ms. Bones watched the scene in amazement and nodded subconsciously.

"Wait, your hair?" She looked at Felix with an odd expression on her face, "Do you have the bloodline of a magical creature? Oh, sorry, you don't have to answer that ..."

Felix looked black, this is the reason he didn't want anyone else to know about his wand core material anymore, especially his acquaintances, like Sirius and Severus, despite the two's opposite personalities, they are bound to reach some sort of consensus on the matter - in which he would be laughed out of.

"The reason for using my hair is related to my unique magical path." He explained simply.

"I can testify to that." Dumbledore said.

Bones assumed he was talking about unique magic and didn't press the issue any further. The three of them discussed the matter for a while and finally came to an agreement.

"Oh yes," Ms. Bones said as she left, "Tonks briefed me about the big golem guards at the Sword Castle, and I wandered around the gates of the castle and sensed how extraordinary they were ... I wonder if the Ministry of Magic could procure a batch? "

" Sure, I will speak to Remus about it." Felix said, "But don't expect too much from them, their present defence mechanism is relatively rigid, at best they can be used to function as a holding force."

"Will it reduce combatant casualties?" Ms. Bones asked.

"Of course, it can."

"That would be sufficient." Ms. Bones said as she left through the fireplace.

Felix got up to say goodbye too, he had some preparation to do in the next few days for what would come next. He is rather optimistic, in his opinion, this is a good opportunity to promote the practical rune system and expand the influence of the 'Future World' company, it is up to him to decide exactly what to do.

Valen waved at Fawkes and Phoenix gave a proud cry.

As Felix walked to the door, Dumbledore hesitated and called out to him from behind, "Actually, I know where the Elder Wand is."

Felix turned his head and looked at him deeply.

"It doesn't matter anymore." He said.

"Indeed." Dumbledore nodded slightly, "The truth is the only thing that doesn't matter in this encounter."

"-but I'm still interested." Felix added.

Dumbledore looked a little flabbergasted at his words, and after a few seconds, he shook his head, "Well, if you insist ... it's in my hands."

At this time, after a morning of fermentation, the news in the newspaper had spread through the school, and the students were enthusiastically discussing the topic of the " Top Ten Wands".

--

#Jacob Slade, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 599 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

In the library.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione are sitting together in the library catching up on their assignments, but there is so much chatter around them about an article that they were unable to stop themselves from thinking about it. Mrs. Pince had already chased away three groups of bickering young wizards by waving a feather duster, but there had been no effect.

"Harry, didn't your wand core come from the same phoenix as the You-Know-Who?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, both come from Fawkes." Harry said slowly, not really wanting to admit it.

"Wouldn't your wand also make it onto the list then?" Ron excitedly asked in a low voice.

Harry's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"Probably not," he said, "It also mentioned in the article that the wand and the wizard complement each other, and I'm just a student." Despite what he said, Harry couldn't help but fantasize that if he ever achieved something comparable to ... no, the very thought of Voldemort made his stomach churn, it would be better to think about someone else, Headmaster Dumbledore or Professor Hap would be perfect.

His eyes gradually looked lost.

"But how come Headmaster Dumbledore's wand isn't on it?" Ron flipped through the paper and was looking for a new topic with interest.

"It stated that only people who had publicly bragged about their wands would be on the list." Harry said casually.

" Then what's the deal with Salazar Slytherin?"

"Probably because of how unusual it looks." Harry remembered Lucius Malfoy's walking cane wand quite vividly.

At that moment, another pair of young wizards argued, and they seemed like a couple.

"How could our professor possibly kill someone?"

"But it's written in the paper-"

"It must be a rumour! And it only talks about 'possible', so maybe the rules itself are wrong."

They argued so much that they were finally thrown out by an annoyed Mrs. Pince all together.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other.

"Have the rumours developed this far already? It's only been a morning-" Hermione said incredulously, as she closed her book hard, " We should better warn the Professor, it's obviously someone is deliberately spreading it around."

"How do you know?" Harry asked.

"There are plenty of flaws." Hermione lowered her head and spread the paper out in front of them with some key points underlined, "Look guys, firstly, the article isn't signed, which is unusual, and secondly, the fact that only the Elder Wand is on the list isn't because of a certain wizard, and it's merely a fairy tale! The article seems very vague, yet it mentions the cruel way of passing it on and puts the professor's name on it ... Think about it, even we only accidentally had learned the name of the professor's new wand by eavesdropping on his conversation, what sources did the other guy used to learn about it?"

"Hiss~" Ron took a breath and made a handful of gestures, " Snape?"

"Unlikely-" Hermione shook her head as she looked from side to side and whispered, "Muffliato." The charm turned their speech into an indistinguishable buzzing sound.

"Why? I think it's possible." Harry said, his resentment towards Snape breaking through to new heights lately, at their last detention yesterday, Snape had made them clean the old jars and the smell in them could literally kill someone.

"Because he is close to the Professor." Hermione simply said.

" Well, it's still not impossible," Ron lowered his voice, "Who knows where all that information he got came from, not even Sirius knows that much, plus he was travelling around mysteriously during the summer, if you ask me, maybe he was visiting his friends and family all summer, visiting those 'old Slytherin friends' of his... . And he's very close to Malfoy's dad to boot!"

Hermione sighed.

"Although I don't like him either, Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Hap both trust him, do you think they're both stupid?"

Harry and Ron were dumbfounded; that reason was enough to erase all suspicions.

"Well, you're right." Ron said weakly.

"The problem now is that we can't let this rumour spread any further," Hermione said grimly, " We should better alert the Professor."

"Is that necessary?" Harry asked, "The Professor is not that fragile."

" It has nothing to do with being fragile, remember in the second year, when you were mistaken for being the heir of Slytherin? And the fourth year, when we were misunderstood about dropping our names into the Goblet of Fire?" Hermione analysed, "If all the students and their parents believe the rumours and pressure the school board, the Professor might possibly face a suspension."

Realizing the severity of the problem, they packed up their things and left, and passed the Slytherin House students who looked in high spirits.

"Well done ..." said a sixth-year Slytherin student with a red face.

Harry asked in disbelief, "Are they gloating?" Well, again, it didn't look like that.

"They're happy! They don't care how the Professor got the Elder Wand, remember what that wand represents? Invincible after obtaining the wand ..." Hermione said softly, "I heard Parkinson and Millicent talking about whether Professor Hap could beat Headmaster Dumbledore when I went to the lavatory, and from the tone of their voices, they seemed to be eager for it to happen."

"What a bunch of odd balls ..." Harry shook his head.

On the other side, Felix emerged from the Headmaster's office.

His expression faded.

The fact that the Elder Wand actually exists was something he didn't know before. To be precise, it was the Headmaster Dumbledore himself that had admitted that the Elder Wand could be considered more powerful than the average wand, and he hadn't asked for any details about the origin of the wand, as Dumbledore was obviously reluctant to elaborate further.

There could be a human life involved.

As Felix walked down the corridors, he could occasionally hear the excited chatter of students, some of them were speculating about the origin of Professor Hap's Elder Wand. When the rules of the Elder Wand's bloody succession were made public, it was inevitable that the rumoured 'owner' of that wand would be subjected to such a suspicious gaze.

Suspicion would be inevitable.

Even Dumbledore could not avoid it.

What's more, he had some vague guesses.

Headmaster Dumbledore's fighting history was pitifully low, though no one could ignore the legendary duel in 1945 - in which Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald, the Dark Lord of his generation, in a public duel.

As a consequence of this defeat, the community of so-called acolytes, which numbered over 10,000, fell apart.

But Grindelwald is still in Nurmengard Castle, where he is still alive and well, so the rumours could be incorrect, it is not necessary to kill the original owner; Perhaps a simple crushing defeat is enough to obtain the wand's allegiance.

From the few words of conversation with the headmaster, Felix came to the conclusion that the Elder Wand acted like a strength enhancer and a channeller. It would amplify the power of the wizard who held the Elder Wand, a boost that would be quite noticeable to all, if it had this power, then Felix can understand why this wand is considered as the most powerful wand.

Because the Elder Wand has had multiple wielders throughout the history of the wizard, and each of them has been formidable in the dueling field.

Why would a young wizard need to choose a brand new wand with no other wielder? Apart from wanting to choose the most suitable wand available to them, a more practical reason is that a second-hand wand carries its former owner's spellcasting habits, and it can easily taint a blank piece of paper with its own colour.

That article already said it all - the wand chooses the wizard, and then the wand and the wizard will grow together.

"That means: the wand has growth, but of course, that growth is not really noticeable to its wielder, at best it would feel much smoother." Felix wondered, "But what if the wand had fallen into the hands of someone else who matched it perfectly?"

If the original holder of the wand had been a master of Transfiguration, then the wand would help the new holder learn Transfiguration much better, regardless of rejection.

In his own case, for example, his wand is extremely exclusive; after all, it has his hair in it. But it is not impossible to adjust it; he can change the wand's ownership selection criteria for the wand to choose a wizard who is proficient in ancient runes.

Although this would be difficult and not something that could be easily accomplished, Felix knew a fair amount about Wandlore as well, or at least he had a high degree of certainty: if he gave enough time, or worked with Mr. Ollivander, he might actually be able to change the rules of the wand to minimize the rejection.

Perhaps in a thousand years, after his wand had drawn on the wisdom and spell-casting habits of the successive generations of ancient runes masters, it too would become a legend, an existence similar to the Elder Wand.

In Felix's mind, the Elder Wand might have started out as a mere new wand, created with top-notch materials, wand core, and manufacturing techniques, which might also have incorporated some alchemical techniques.

But the most important aspect - the thing that made the Elder Wand different from ordinary wands - was the fact that it could recognize itself.

This trait was enough to allow it to learn knowledge and spellcasting habits from multiple wielders over a long period of time. Felix mused about how Godelot had treated his wand as his partner and even mentor, using its power and knowledge to compile the Magick Moste Evile ...

Dumbledore explicitly stated that the Elder Wand doesn't think or communicate like a human, so is it just a faithful notation?

After all, its previous possessors had all been strong, and the occasional few who couldn't reach the standard would have left a strong mark on history because they were manipulated by the evil knowledge hidden within the wand.

Felix breathed a long sigh of relief.

Exactly why the wizard who crafted the Elder Wand did so is unknown; after all, Felix had a strong scepticism about the existence of Death itself, Beedle the Bard was from the fifteenth century and there were no similar legends before his time ...

As a matter of his own judgment, Felix figured that perhaps the wizard who built the Elder Wand was an extremely skilled alchemist and a Wandmaker, as for the purpose ... perhaps on a whim or as an experiment.

Some of the notes left by Nicolas Flamel had opened Felix's eyes, one of which concerned the legend of the Cornucopia.

'People tend to be intensely curious about areas they don't understand, and if they don't get an answer, they tend to fill in with their own cognitions; both wizards and muggles have this bad habit.

I can think of at least a dozen ways of creating a Folklore's Cornucopia, for example, ranging from an easy way by using a few hidden tricks (such as using an Undetectable Extension Charm to hide a batch of grains, fruits and flowers beforehand, after which you can sit back and watch the show) to more complex ways ( Which certainly can work even better than the legendary Cornucopia does, which in ancient times, when information was not easily available, could have been fabricated).

This can be built by simply adding small alchemical tools that cannot be seen by muggles, alchemical tools that have a strong sensitivity towards fruits, grains, flowers, golds, and so on, which are designed to steal the wealth of an innocent merchant a few hundred kilometers away from the Cornucopia when the muggle is asleep.

This was not difficult and the muggle (usually a simple peasant) of the time would only marvel at the fact that he had a treasure that spontaneously produced food, Jewellery, and a pot of gold, without suspecting that the fortune produced was in fact belonged to someone else and, if done cleverly enough, the stolen treasure could be fused into a fixed shape and marked with a unique mark... ...

In my long life, I have truly seen such a deed done, and as a result, I have been careful about keeping my creations out of circulation. I have kept my work strictly for the purpose of research alone, but of course, I can't rule out that it is because I made a bet with Perenelle ...'

Felix walked around the Black Lake, enjoying the refreshing breeze and watching Valen run after a butterfly, her scarf flapping up behind her head, and watching her happily run around made him smile unconsciously.

To sum it up, is there a Death in this world? He wasn't sure, but unless Death is literally standing in front of him, and he can't beat it, the question is irrelevant in practical terms, whether it's an Elder Wand, a Resurrection Stone, or an Invisibility Cloak, he generally just dismisses it as the work of an extremely skilled alchemist.

If he ever happens to come across them, he will borrow them to study for a while.

This also made him realize that there was really no need to dwell on the Elder Wand and the Death.

He also possessed crafting methods for creating a whole bunch of magical items such as philosopher's stone, Horcrux, etc., oh yes, and the time-turner. He had no shortage of time energy.

"If Death truly exists in this world, I would like you to appear in front of me and shatter my world views ..." muttered Felix in a small voice, but he soon changed his mind, "Well, it would be better if you appear a few years later when we can sit down and talk about magic."

On his way back, he heard movement behind him and turned to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione darting their way over from behind the pillar.

" Just in time, I was hoping to find you." He said to Harry.

"Professor," Harry gasped for breath, "we've heard some rumours and now everyone is speculating where the wand you're holding came from."

"You'd better clarify that, if you leave it alone the rumours will surely get worser and worser." Hermione added.

After the first two had finished their sentences, Ron could only nod his head hard when it was his turn.

" Well, so this is skipping right over the authenticity and defaulting to the fact that I possess the Elder Wand?" Felix chuckled and ended the sentence in an eerie tone, "Don't worry, someone will explain it for me, you guys wait until you read the latest paper. On the other hand, I'm curious to see what will happen next - whether they will choose to believe a story that sounds quite so-so, or whether they will want to know the truth at all 'cost'."

Harry and the group were literally frozen in place by these words. Felix followed up with, "I mean the dark wizards who are thinking some crooked ways."

The Golden Trio immediately smiled at that, "Ah, of course, what else could it be."

"Here, Harry, it's from Mr. Slughorn." Felix tossed the small vial with the Liquid Luck to Harry.

"Mr. Slughorn?" Harry caught the small vial and looked at the golden liquid inside, and shaking it casually, the gold-like droplets jumped like swimming fish. He asked in confusion, "What is this?"

Hermione covered her mouth, "Oh my god, oh my god."

"Felix Felicis." Felix replied.

Harry still didn't get it, he had spent most of his time in Potions class muddling through, he had low expectations of passing the class and the lower year's textbooks didn't contain an introduction to potions like Liquid Luck.

Felix looked at Hermione, giving her the task of explaining it would be a win-win for everyone.

"Felix Felicis. It has another name, Liquid Luck! It has the effect of bringing good luck and making whatever you do go smoothly." Hermione said, remembering that she had seen this rare potion in her second year in the Professor's collection - she had tried to get information about Polyjuice Potion at the time, but the Professor had pulled out several magical potions, including a vial of Liquid Luck, exactly the same as the one Harry is holding.

Unsurprisingly, Harry and Ron's eyes widened at the same time, and Harry felt the vial in his hand become so hot that he couldn't remember how he had taken it from the professor at all.

"That's correct," Felix nodded at Hermione before turning to Harry, "You can ask Miss Granger the dos and don'ts about this potion, besides, I would like to ask one more thing, you don't really think that a potion can change your luck, do you?"

Harry looked at him blankly, "Doesn't it?"

"Let me explain it like this," Felix said to them, "Have you ever had an experience such as this? Not performing well enough on some important occasion because you were nervous, and then being so remorseful afterwards that you felt you would have done better if you could do it all over again?"

The three of them pondered.

"I think like that after every exam." Ron muttered in a whisper, "Would a Liquid Luck will help?"

Felix chuckled, "If you've never been exposed to that part of knowledge before, it's rather limited in what it can do. The Liquid Luck will stimulate your hidden potential, making you sharper and more precise in your judgement, as if you had everything under control ... so you can easily do things you would not normally dare to imagine, but the truth is, you already had such potential."

Harry looked at the potion in his hand, the enthusiasm in his heart gradually subsiding.

"So, what you wanted to say is Liquid Luck is a luck potion, by definition, not a wishing potion." Harry asked.

Felix smiled and nodded his head.

Harry's eyes suddenly widened, "Wait, then Professor, doesn't your thinking room-" have a similar effect? He was well aware that a sub-function of this magic is thought acceleration, which sounded similar to the effect of a Liquid Luck.

"Ah," Felix smiled, "don't you know? Magic spells and magic potions can be used as a substitute for each other, so in a way, you're right about that part." Like his name suggested, he could always make 'luck' come to him, as well.

--

#Jacob Slade, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 600 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

That day passed by peacefully. The next day the Ministry of Magic held a press conference, with the Minister of Magic Amelia Bones herself as the speaker, standing on the dais with a crowd of reporters and photographers below her, and dotted with people who had run over to see what was going on. She looked over at Kingsley, who gave her a slight nod.

Ms. Bones calmly announced.

"The rumours about Mr. Felix Hap obtaining the Elder Wand, which was previously propagated in the newspapers, have been proven to be false. I have personally examined his wand, and it is not made of the rumoured elder wood, which speaks volumes. It is well known that in addition to his expertise in ancient runes and muggle studies, Mr. Hap is also a writer with a child's heart. The best-selling comic series that brought L.C.A. publishers back from the dead, 'The Strange Adventures of Mick the Little Wizard', was written by him, and this masterpiece included a large number of references to works in the same genre, and naturally, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, which has influenced countless young wizards, was also featured."

"Are you implying that Mr. Hap has named his wand the Elder Wand because of the reverence he holds for the Beedle the Bard?"

"That is correct."

"Madam, are you denying the existence of the Elder Wand?"

"Perhaps it truly exists, but it is certainly not in Mr. Hap's possession now, nor is it part of our discussion today." Ms. Bones replied.

"How did you check it, and what if he had made a forgery?"

"I wouldn't doubt my own eyes." Ms. Bones said coldly, "Next."

"What if he has a second wand?"

Bones examined the man who spoke from under her monocle, "I don't remember inviting you, what newspaper are you a journalist for?"

"Ahem, I'm here on a trip, a tourist." The bald man who had asked the question said smilingly.

" Good," Ms. Bones said calmly, "we'll check your approved entry paperwork after the press conference, if you don't have it, be prepared to pay the fine up front."

She cleared her throat and continued.

"There may be more to this than that meets the eye, and I can break the news that the editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet, who approved this article, is suspected of being under an Imperius Curse, which suggests: there may be a possible conspiracy lurking under the surface of this matter, and given the current situation, there is reason to suspect that it is connected to Voldemort and his evil gang."

The red-carpeted press conference room became silent as if someone had casted a charm.

"Ahem, are you sure?"

"I used the words 'suspected' and 'possible'," Ms. Bones said sternly, "but if you're well-informed, you'll discover that this article has appeared in a dozen countries, and it cannot be a coincidence!"

"I personally have nothing but contempt for the authors of this article, because those responsible for it cannot even distinguish the most basic fact that Mr. Hap's research focused on ancient runes and that he promoted the current boom in Runes throughout Britain.

Although Mr. Hap is not a man of many words, he is deeply distressed by the public's wrong prioritization. He has therefore requested me to organize an exchange in the Hogsmeade village on the last weekend of October - that is, 27 October -"

At this point another journalist questioned.

"Why drag it so long? Wouldn't it be enough for him to come forward and state that he never possessed the Elder Wand?" Rita Skeeter's eyes twinkled as her question drew a chorus of approval.

"Because that's just trivial!" Ms. Bones interrupted her, "The Elder Wand is worthless in Mr. Hap's eyes compared to the promotion of ancient runes, and that's the difference between you and him-"

Rita Skeeter glared at her viciously.

The others took notes excitedly, their quill seemed to fume, and the white glow of the flash flickered constantly.

"And, it must be mentioned that Dumbledore, the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has applied to the International Confederation of Wizards to arrange this exchange as an international event, where he will invite wizards of sufficient prestige to attend, including experts in ancient runes from all over the world, and Headmasters of wizarding schools from all countries. "

The crowd of journalists froze. The various coloured quills that hovered in the air fell to the ground as if they were in a faulty state.

Big news.

Rita Skeeter grabbed a green feathered quill with a look of excitement on her face, she had not made the wrong decision to side with him.

For the next few minutes, all that was left was the sound of the writing quills.

"... All outsiders must report in advance and limit their activities solely within the Hogsmeade village, violators will receive severe punishment ..."

"Can you tell us about the exchange?"

"All that can be revealed at this time is that in addition to presenting his research, Mr. Hap will also graciously spare some time to accept challenges from anyone--"

"Wait! A challenge?"

The reporters sniffed out the keyword.

"Exactly." Ms. Bones said, looking at the few excited, unfamiliar faces on the scene - they are obviously foreign wizards - and a wave of pity rose up in her heart for no apparent reason. Only she and a handful of Wizengamot wizards had seen the footage of Felix Hap fighting Voldemort.

If you are so excited, you will not refuse to sign a life and death contract, right? She continued reading her statement undisturbed.

"The event is expected to last three days ..."

"The Ministry of Magic will actively negotiate with the various foreign Ministries of Magic, and the proceedings would be held in the form of a real-time broadcast, with technical support from Future World ..."

The press conference ended with a buzz of excitement.

By the time the news reached Hogwarts, it was already the next morning, and students exchanged information briskly with each other at the great hall table, with an occasional knowing look when their eyes met, that meant, 'I told you there would be Big News.' Then they rushed off to their classes.

Over the next few days, an atmosphere of restlessness permeated the school, and this restlessness was reflected in the classes that followed, where some daring students could not resist asking questions about the topic in question.

"Professor Black, may I ask who is more powerful, you or Professor Hap?" A very unlikeable student asked an unpleasant question.

Sirius glared at him, "That comparison is pointless, and besides, it is forbidden to provoke a conflict between professors, so five points off for Gryffindor."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione grinned.

It was hard to hide their actions from Sirius, who was somewhat regretting that he had told them about the time he had been played around by Felix and, become somewhat annoyed about it for a moment, and asked with a dark look on his face, " Since you guys asked, I will ask an exactly similar question: how much better do you think you are compared to Aurors?"

"We can try." He carried his wand and looked impishly at the crowd, "Get a real feel for it; Aurors are given plenty of opportunities to be exposed to combat, and it is real combat unlike your duel games, and their opponents tend to be cunning dark wizards."

"Even if you have mastered the same magic, those who have had training in dueling behave completely differently from those who have not, and furthermore, those who have had experience in real combat are completely different from those who have not, and this gap is reflected in the tiny details of how you perceive fighting."

"Let's assume that I'm not particularly far ahead of you guys, but even with the same spell, and maintaining the same level of power, the gap between us is still quite wide ..." He paused and made a provocative gesture, the meaning of which is clear enough.

"So - who's first?"

Harry leaped to his feet, but Sirius pretended like he didn't notice it, remembering the grudge, "Zabini, come here." He pointed at someone and Blaise Zabini stepped forward confidently, his friends whistled loudly. "Harry, you call the start."

Sirius and Zabini stood face to face, staring at each other's faces. Harry shouted 'start' and they both moved at the same time, Sirius flicked his wrist and Zabini's wand immediately flew out.

"A little trick, but if you're holding your wand tightly, the power of the spell will barely move your arm a little, but it's just perfect in this case." Sirius said, "Again."

Unconvinced, Zabini picked up his wand, this time gripping it firmly in his hand.

"Begin!"

Both men raised their wands in unison -

"Expelliarmus!" Zabini shouted loudly, but Sirius beat him to it.

"Casting spells silently always makes you one step faster," Sirius said with a tilted head.

"This time I'll cast the spell-like you, so let's do it again." He said.

Zabini hesitated for a moment, and picked up his wand from the ground, looking at Sirius cautiously.

A moment of silence followed.

"Expelliarmus!" "Expelliarmus!" Both men shouted at the same time.

Except this time, Sirius jerked his head low and dodged the spell quickly, while Zabini got hit solidly and his wand flew out of his hand as it rotated a few times.

"Even if two people chant the spell at the same time, I still have the chance to dodge it or flick it away with my wand, in short, there are many ways to avoid it." Sirius said, " Still, even if you've read about this in your textbooks or storybooks, or even practiced it in private, you still might not be able to remember to use it or use it well when you're in actual combat."

"Your last school year professor, Alastor Moody, I have worked with him, and he has a saying that rings well - Constant vigilance. Of course, I'm not asking you to imitate him, but at the very least, you should know what to do when danger comes, and if you can't remember, then you should use your body to remember."

...

On a late night, Felix spread out the new version of the Marauder's Map, where rows of paths through Hogwarts Castle and the Forbidden Forest intersected with each other and sprouted like a spring flower. His index finger tapped on an inconspicuous corner, and in a flash of flickering light, the original layout quickly disappeared, and new paths expanded from the corner of Hogwarts Castle, twisting and turning until a new location appeared.

It is a small village, made up of numerous cottages and shops with many familiar names on them: Ambrosius Flume is in Honeydukes, Madam Puddifoot is in Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, Rosmerta is in Three Broomsticks Inn, Zonko is in Zonko's Joke Shop, and there is that barman at the Hog's Head Inn named Aberforth... Dumbledore!

To be honest, Felix was genuinely taken aback when he first saw the name.

At the moment, he lowered his head to look down at the other names in Hogsmeade with the help of the dim light -

"Let me look, all the strangers who have shown up and the ones who are stupid enough to roam around Hogwarts?"

--

#Jacob Slade, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 601 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

The night is already freezing in early October, and the Hogsmeade Village seemed gloomy and cold as Felix walked through the empty streets, the streets were deserted, even the Aurors and Hit-Wizards who were on patrol had found shelter from the cold, they would not come out unless someone pressed the alarm or triggered the Caterwauling Charm.

All the shacks and shops along the street were closed, and the Hog's Head Inn was no exception, but Felix spotted a faint light through a gap in the closed door or window, and after two minutes of persistent knocking on the door, it finally opened.

In the doorway stood a sharp face resembling Dumbledore's, but with an angry look on his face, the older man who towered a little over him looked tall and lean, and stood firmly in front of him.

"Why I never realized this before." Felix muttered.

"It's closed, come back tomorrow if you have any business!" The barman's tone was snappy, and he had the same long beard as Dumbledore's, only it is grey in colour.

" There's no need to be so gruff with your customers," Felix laughed lightly, his head inclined towards the side, "let me in, I can see two men drinking in the corner! And on an extra note, your closing hours are usually pretty late."

Aberforth Dumbledore, the owner of the Hog's Head Inn and its only barman, glared as Felix gestured in the direction of the icy stone wall of the Inn, and if one passed through it, one would see that his statement was unmistakable.

"They're lodging." Aberforth Dumbledore stated.

Felix shrugged and didn't reply, and the two men stared at each other for a few seconds before Aberforth reluctantly moved out of the way.

"Don't make any trouble or I'll throw you out." He whispered threateningly and slammed the door behind him after Felix stepped inside.

Felix stood and looked around the room, the bar is small and reeked of goat smell, it is also very dimly lit - probably because of the night - with a few candle heads burning quietly. He took a quick glance at the only other customers in the bar, it is now nearly midnight, so neither of the two men are in any disguise, allowing Felix to see their faces clearly.

There were two bottles of liquor on the table, and the both bottles looked dirty.

What a coincidence, Felix thought to himself, those two faces looked exactly the same as the profile he had read before, exactly two of the three targets he was looking for, a notorious group of dark wizards who have been moving around multiple countries committing lots of bloodsheds.

He walked towards the bar as if nothing had happened, but the two dark wizards in question froze, a little dumbfounded that the target they had been strategizing about had just appeared out of nowhere. But Felix Hap had been rumoured to be a force to reckoned with, having made a big splash at the Quidditch World Cup, taking down hundreds of wizards all by himself - a rather impressive number even if he had faced a bunch of confused, drunken people who were just venting their frustrations.

Their eyes followed Felix all the way to the bar where he sat down, at which point Aberforth also walked in through the bar's side door and returned to his usual and familiar spot.

"What kind of drink do you want?" He asked gruffly, casually picking up a tattered rag to wipe his goblet.

"A Firewhisky - ugh, never mind." Felix looked at the dirty rag in Aberforth's hand, the thing looked like it hadn't been replaced for centuries and seemed to be from the same era as the stone floor that looked completely unrecognizable from its original form.

" I want to enquire about an intel." Felix said, and his words caught the attention of the two wizards in the corner, who had their ears cocked to the side, but they couldn't hear anything when Felix tapped on the bar top.

"I'm not an information dealer or an information broker, I'm just an owner of an Inn." The old man said impatiently.

On the other side, the two dark wizards looked at each other.

" Shall we do it?" One of them asked, licking his lips.

"Wait a little longer, that barman is not easy to mess with, he has thrown out a dozen unruly men in the last two days; When Felix Hap leaves, we will follow him and wait for the opportunity to attack ..."

"Should we notify the old man? He has had a lot of drinks, and neither the fourth nor the fifth have returned."

"Don't startle the snake, it won't be good to attract that man's attention." The other dark wizard said with a grim look on his face, that is the Elder Wand they're talking about, and if he obtains it, the more people there are, the more trouble he will have to deal with it.

The two dark wizards were obviously unaware that they had become the subject of discussion as well. On the bar, Felix squinted slightly in the direction of the corner, and Aberforth also followed his gaze.

...

"I'm taking three people." Felix continued as if he hadn't heard what the opposite party had been saying, "including those two." He sounded like a customer who was ordering a normal meal.

The barman at the Hog's Head Inn looked deep into his eyes, the dirty rag he was holding hovered in the air as he growled in a low voice, "You think I would agree to that?"

"You should be able to understand my concern, they are all dangerous people ... and it is my responsibility." Felix said.

"Oh? Aren't you the famous Professor Hap, when did you start to do the Auror's job?" Aberforth Dumbledore said with no shortage of sarcasm, "Or Is it because of a damned, For the Greater Good thingy?" His blue eyes resembled his brother's, except Felix, was unable to associate the colour with the deep, calm vastness of the sea, no matter how he looked at it.

His eyes brimmed with storms of emotion like they were ready to tumble into waves of turmoil.

Felix understood; after all, the younger brothers were always a little more lively.

"Speaking of that, unbeknownst to me, I've acquired a lot of identities, and occasionally I struggle with them," Felix said with a grin that didn't look bitter at all, "Let's just say that lately I've been carrying the title Ministry of Magic's Advisor, as well as the Ministry of Magic's specially approved bounty hunter. "

"Bounty hunter?" Aberforth Dumbledore seemed confused.

"Yeah, like a vampire hunter, except the latter has been deemed an illegal profession, and my bounty hunter status was only recently granted." Felix said cheerfully, waving his left hand around as a piece of parchment suddenly appeared in front of the two men's sight, "Do I need to show it to you for inspection?"

Aberforth stared at the Ministry of Magic's seal that was stamped on the parchment, and his breath quickened.

"Bang!" He slammed his fist on the bar as the bottles and goblets shook. It made Felix notice one more thing that made him different from Headmaster Dumbledore, probably because he was used to doing physical work, his body is more sturdy with thick muscle and prominent veins.

He said gruffly, "If I had met someone like you who is playing with the law twenty years earlier, I would have broken your nose with one punch and thrown you out-"

"I was four years old back then, are you sure about that?" Felix grinned.

Aberforth glared at him, getting tired of the rumbustious boy in front of him; he had never been comfortable with the school, he never had read many books in his life, and he had only dealt with things like quill and parchment a handful of times since graduating, and now he had some trouble controlling his anger.

He admitted that he held prejudice against Felix Hap, a prejudice that stemmed from the man who lived in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts Castle. Because they were in the same team.

But a good idea suddenly popped into his head, the type of idea that had not come up very often in his life, and he decided not to waste the inspiration. In a tone full of sarcasm, Aberforth quipped, "So you're trying to tell me that you were this nasty when you were just four years old as you are now?"

"In a way - sort of, I was more mature than the average child." The man opposite to him laughed, " As far as I'm concerned, I've said all this to make sure you understand that I have a valid reason, but of course, I don't want to make too much of a scene, in case we run into each other at a private party, it will inevitably be awkward for you ... I'm always well liked."

He was referring to the Order of the Phoenix and combined with the old man's name, and the customer base the Hog's Head Inn had always had, Felix knew this place would be another pair of eyes of Headmaster Dumbledore.

After a moment of silence, Aberforth huffed and asked, "What are you going to do? Don't tell me it's Albus' order."

"Of course not, it was my own decision."

Felix stepped out of the spell's range and stomped on the floor which caused a loud creak, and the two wizards in the corner looked over in unison, their eyes fixed dead on the wand he had just taken out of his pocket. For a moment, the only sound in the Hog's Head Inn is the crackle of the hearth fire.

" Do you wanna have a go? This is a great opportunity to release your frustration-" Felix asked with a tempting tone.

"Shut up, boy!" Aberforth exclaimed.

The two dark wizards looked at each other, their identities seemed to have been exposed, "Do it!".

Felix stepped forward, his eyes lit up like stars, one of the dark wizards' body swayed as if he had received a blow on the back of his head, his body suddenly lost its balance and fell to the ground, and the other dark wizard still remained emotionally composed and did not panic at his companion's fall.

Despite the fear that threatened to spill out of his eyes, his movements remained fluid.

He raised his wand, the tip of which gathered a deep black aura, "Deletri - " Felix took another step forward and his wand stabbed out, suffocating the dark wizard's last word - in the physical sense. The Dark Wizard suffocated, his chest caving in heavily and his entire body slammed into the wall.

"There's one left, in room nine."

Felix looked towards the stairs, which was the piece of information he had just received. From behind the bar, Aberforth looked furious, the wand in his hand pointed at him.

"Get out of here! This is no place for you to fool around. I'll let it slide since those two were the ones who started it just now, but don't you dare to drag my guest out of his bed."

"How touching, you should know what kind of people they are, and I only picked off the most dangerous ones ..." Felix said, but Aberforth didn't budge in the slightest, stubbornly holding up his wand.

"I've been running this bar for decades, and I know what rules I have to follow." He said hoarsely, his expression becoming very intimidating.

"And if I insist?" Felix locked eyes with him.

"You can try!"

"All right." Felix took a step back and seemed to have compromised.

But with a downward stroke of his wand in his hand, the air rippled like water, and a fold of layers stacked up. The small, dark room suddenly lit up for a moment, a strong light bursting from Felix, followed by a rapid dimming.

Aberforth looked at him warily, his magic spell gathering its momentum, but he soon opened his mouth wide in surprise, which made Felix laugh out loud, he had never expected he would see such a comical surprised expression on the face that resembled Dumbledore's.

The silvery glow spread in all directions and all furnishings became new everywhere it went; the greasy, muddy floor became flat and smooth; the dusty brass candelabra looked yellow and shimmered with a metallic sheen; Aberforth picked up a rag from the table and surveyed it; the stains and grease from long use on the rag disappeared as its original bright colour returned...

His bar seemed brand new, just as it had been when he had first taken over.

But it only lasted for a few seconds and soon the room was back to its original state.

"What have you done?" Aberforth asked with a furrowed brow. He didn't see what had happened, and that was the worst of it. He is not a weak man - to be precise, he is considered much stronger than the average man. And for that reason he could clearly feel the unfamiliarity in the building he had lived in for decades, an oppressive atmosphere enveloping him and isolating him.

He definitely wouldn't be surprised if the rag in his hand suddenly jumped up and gave him a quick jab in the next moment.

Felix put his wand away and waved his hand at him.

"Let's both take a step back, and I won't go up there and make a scene, but if the man comes down on his own and decides to come with me, it's none of your business, I suppose."

" Transfiguration?" Aberforth didn't respond, he looked down and pondered for a moment before blurting out.

The answer made Felix a little curious as well, and he couldn't help but ask, "Can Headmaster Dumbledore do something similar?" It is a trick he has developed on his own.

"If you mean controlling a piece of terrain," Aberforth muttered, "he did it back in 1945, not so sure about now."

"That legendary duel? You were there?"

"Legendary? Legend?" Aberforth sneered.

He suddenly calmed down, as he shoved his wand back into his pocket and began to wipe the goblet with the dirty rag again, but he seemed somewhat absent-minded, occasionally looking in the direction of the stairs. After a while, there was a movement from upstairs, and he stopped what he was doing and stared at the darkened stairway as if to confirm something.

A man appeared horizontally as he floated out.

Red face, yellow hair, scarred and pot-bellied body, his face dragged on the floor as his one leg is held up by something tall.

The dark wizard who lived in room nine had not floated down like he had originally thought before, but had been dragged down by a tall man, and the man whose face he knew so well, as he sees it every day when he look in the mirror -

He looked just like the other Aberforth Dumbledore.

"Thanks, Aberforth." Felix said mischievously as the 'Aberforth' who is carrying the Dark Wizard remained silent and dropped the Dark Wizard in his hand to the floor, "Bang." The real Aberforth in the back of the bar's eyelids jumped as the dark wizard's head bulged with a large bump, he was obviously hit by something.

Before he could ask, he knew what had knocked the unlucky wanted man unconscious: he saw his other self suddenly jump up and revert to its original form in mid-air - a brass candelabra. The candelabra fell on the bar, wobbled, and spun twice, before stopping in front of him.

Aberforth probably guessed how Felix had done it: he had used some method to spread his magic throughout the bar, probably on the same principle that he knew exactly where the dark wizards in question were before he even entered the Inn? And this dark wizard was probably blissfully sleeping unaware of the approaching danger or perhaps the alcohol made him lose his usual vigilance; in any case, the metal candelabra above his bed would've floated into mid-air and knocked him senseless, then the candelabra morphed into his own form and carried the dark wizard downstairs ...

"I hate pranks." Aberforth glared at Felix and said stiffly, "You have achieved your purpose, you can leave now."

"Do you need me to pass your greetings to Albus?"

"No need!" Aberforth yelled in no good humour, he had just had enough for the night.

"If I say that I'll come back tomorrow night-"

"Get out of here!"

Felix stopped talking as he beckoned the two Dark wizards who had passed out earlier, and the three Dark wizards hovered in a continuous row like a train in mid-air, and followed him silently, "I'll take my leave then, Mr. Dumbledore." He headed towards the door after he had spoken.

Aberforth stared at Felix's back with an unexplainable feeling of wonder, he had keenly sensed that the young man resembled his brother in some ways, a courteous exterior hiding an unnoticeable mixture of arrogance and stubbornness - the words that were always used to describe him, but his grumpiness was perhaps just more outwardly apparent.

But then again they are very different, though Aberforth, at least the guy who lives in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts wouldn't have done what Felix had done today. He suddenly called out to Felix.

"What are you going to do with them?"

"Send them where they need to go. Sadly, I don't really want to do this either." Felix replied.

Aberforth was taken aback, "You're going to kill them?"

"Mr. Dumbledore, that's an appalling notion, I just want to trade them for some money - I told you at the beginning, I'm a bounty hunter." Felix turned back to the old man, his trophy huddled together and their heads rubbed against the ceiling.

Turns out he is going to hand them over to the Ministry of Magic ...

"But I did come across two lost guys at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and they fumbled their way to the perimeter of the Hogwarts-" Felix pushed open the door of the bar and a gust of wind blew in, which made the old man's hand shake. Felix stood at the entrance with one foot outside the bar as he guided the three dark wizards that were hovering in the air to float out one by one.

"And then what?" Aberforth asked after him.

He figured out that the young man's character was brimming with mischief, and so he guessed if he didn't continue to question on this, the young man would be gone, and he hated when people leave their sentence half spoken, as it would keep him awake all night.

" Of course, they're dead." Felix said calmly as the door closed behind him.

--

#Jacob Slade, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 601 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

The next morning Felix went to his classes, as usual, the three wanted men who were still alive were naturally picked up by Aurors, he didn't pay much attention to them, at most, he checked on the new defences that had been added to the school this year, Professors Flitwick and McGonagall had been busy because of it some time.

They added this new layer of defence to guard against the Death Eaters, and in the words of Charms Class Professor Flitwick, "The You-Know-Who regarded Headmaster Dumbledore as a major obstacle for his reign during the First War! Who knows what he'll do this time?" Of course, Felix and Snape, during a private chat, concluded that Voldemort would not deliberately target the school students.

He wanted to rule, not slaughter. But Filius was right about one thing; there are indeed quite a few people in the school who became a major nuisance to Voldemort, it was just Dumbledore before, but now there is an additional Felix, as well as Harry, Ron, and Hermione, three students who have disgraced him. If one looked even more broadly, the young wizards from Muggle families and students and teachers who did not approve of his brutal philosophy could also be classified in this category.

Although Voldemort would not deliberately target those latter group - that would only come after he had taken over the British magical world, as part of his "grand cause" - anyone with a bit of intelligence would realize that if Voldemort aimed to do something, no matter who his target is, he would not show mercy. Voldemort would never care if you are innocent or not.

That's why defensive measures are necessary.

"I don't need to tell you about the exams next June, and one of the major point in your life is finally here," Felix said in his fifth year Ancient Rune Class, "I reckon you've been hearing this similar statement over and over again since last year, it's like a countdown ticking in your head --"

" Actually, for us, it started in our third grade." Ron whispered, "Because we have a good friend whose name is Miss Know-it-all."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"All in all, you're lucky that the Ancient Rune Class practical part of the exam has only been divided up this year with no clear specification made beforehand, which means that it won't be too difficult and the test coverage will be relatively narrow."

The students below listened with great focus, usually, at this point of the year, every word uttered by the professor would be worth memorizing, as there is a high chance that it would be relevant to the exam.

And this is the O.W.Ls year!

"Magic Golems, the three most common kinds of Sneakoscopes out of the seven, and rune cards ... Other than that, what we're going to talk about today is relevant: from now until the time of Christmas, you will learn to make twelve types of amulets."

" The core of each amulet is made up of an array of runic circuits. Of course, the true version is much more complex, because of the stability and duration of the magic power... Today, we are going to learn about an amulet that can ward off dark creatures, and you will notice its entire runic circuit core has been carefully structured around the light rune."

"You are by no means unfamiliar with this knowledge, but you haven't exactly delved much deeper into it either, so today's lesson will help you understand and consolidate this knowledge better." Felix paused and looked down at the students, "You all have a copy of the rune booklet, right?"

The students nodded in unison.

"Very well, apart from some basic theory, this booklet also contains a complete dissection of an ancient magic, Illumination, which I have already covered in the Magic Rune Club. The Light Rune is also used as the core of the Illumination Magic. In addition to this, the Bright Fire-making spell, which is highly rated by the Dark Force Defence League, also made use of this same rune as its core ... Overall, it has become a highly iconic rune, in other words, a test point."

A bold student couldn't resist asking, "Professor, so this rune will appear on the O.W.L exam?"

Felix blinked, "All I can say is, it's very likely. Mr. Thomas."

He waved his wand and a large wall of writing appeared on the board. "The crafting method is in the textbook, and the dos and don'ts are on the board. In addition-" With another wave of his wand, a cluster of white smoke emerged from the tip of his wand and a series of images hovered in midair as it became footage. " Footage of amulet making, for your reference."

The students below the podium are no strangers to this, but it is the first time this magic has been used in an ancient rune class. They stared at the footage in mid-air -

A clean, slender hand held the rune carving knife - they guessed it would be Professor Hap - and fluidly wrote a burning magic rune on the palm-sized chestnut slab, so fast that before the first one had cooled, the last one was already finished, and the whole circuit of magic runes linked together and burst with a bright glow. When the bright light faded, the hand began to move again, and they could only partially understand the next procedure, and after nearly three minutes, an amulet was made.

Next, the silver cloud in the air suddenly froze and the scene returned to the beginning, starting a new cycle.

"I haven't figured it out yet-"

"You have to watch it together with the material and the notes on the board."

"So we just have to do what we're shown?" Harry murmured in awe, "If only Potions class could be like this." Potions recipes in the fifth year had taken another step up in difficulty, the various steps involved became so complicated, and slight negligence could turn the potion into a pot of waste water.

"Snape should really learn this, instead of spending his energy on thinking about how to deduce our points." Ron couldn't help but complain.

"I think Professor Binns needs it too." Seamus chimed in. His words drew a chorus of approval; Professor Binns is well known for being able to present the thrilling Goblin Rebellion and the War of the Giants into a boring technical report. Many of the students became programmed to get sleepy when he opened his mouth.

When the classroom quieted down, Felix said, "I don't think you'll be able to make it in one attempt, but it's always wise to set your aim high. Anyway, let's get started."

The students off the podium took out their rune carving knives and chestnut slabs and started to try their hand at making amulets.

Throughout the whole session, Felix walked around the classroom, pointing out various problems of the students, and he noticed a certain phenomenon - to be precise, it had been going on for a while, and today was just another reoccurrence - the Slytherin students' looked at him with reverence.

This kind of behaviour is very different from before, and cannot be justified simply as a sign of adherence to classroom discipline. Well, at least - when they met him in the corridors recently, they would deliberately slow down their speech and appear extremely dignified. It was as if they were afraid of making a joke in front of him.

Felix had thought that this reverence came from the reputation of the Elder Wand, but the Ministry of Magic had helped him to dispel the rumours, and yet their attitude persisted without waning. He wondered if they knew about his new habit of 'walking' in Hogsmeade these past two days.

Even the Gryffindor students could notice this kind of perversion.

"The Slytherin students are oozing something amiss from top to bottom." Ron said at lunchtime, waving his fork in his hand, "I almost thought they were in cahoots with Percy."

" W-what it got to do with Percy?" Harry asked.

"Percy's been busy as hell! And, of course, he's overjoyed. I mean, he's supposed to remain idle for the next few years after hosting two big tournaments in a row last year, but now there's the Ancient Rune Exchange, and that's great news for him."

"The Slytherin students wouldn't still think that the Professor is holding the Elder Wand, would they?" Hermione asked, "I mean, the Professor has clarified that, hasn't he?"

"Probably too desperate for glory." Harry said, this is something he understood better than Ron and Hermione, as he had been playing Quidditch with Slytherin house for three years and became familiar with their ways.

The bad reputation of Slytherin house had to do with many factors. Such as being arrogant and loving to talk about their status, of course, more importantly, there had been a growing trend from top to bottom where they valued honour too much and were not shy about using many petty tricks to win when they were on the bottom.

"You guys are right," the ghost Nearly Headless Nick floated over, " In their opinion, Mr. Hap is expected to be Headmaster of Hogwarts. I don't know who first spread this word, but it suddenly became widespread in Slytherin House."

"But does it really matter?" Harry asked.

" Well, of course, it does." Nearly Headless Nick said, "Do you know how many Headmasters have come from Slytherin House throughout the history?"

"Er ..." Harry fumbled, he looked at Ron, who shared his blank expression, and then at Hermione who had a rather odd look on her face, so he asked uncertainly, "Maybe a dozen?" Nearly Headless Nick shook his head "Are there too few?" and Harry added another question.

He knew just one, Sirius' great-great-grandfather, known as the most unpopular Headmaster in the history of Hogwarts.

"Not very few, but only one, Phineas Black." Nearly Headless Nick revealed the answer.

"Only him?" Harry asked in surprise. He finally understood why Hermione's expression looked quite weird. She must have known, because she had almost memorized the book, 'Hogwarts: A History'.

"Over thirty Headmasters and only one was from Slytherin, so you can imagine what kind of expectations they harboured ... Honestly, I think the Headmaster Black was quickly accepted and supported by Slytherin House during his time was probably also related to the fact that he was the only Slytherin Headmaster, even though the future generations didn't think much of him. "

"But wasn't he the most unpopular Headmaster?" Harry muttered.

"There's no contradiction between the two. It's true that some of the things he did while in post were unpleasant, but at the beginning, Slytherin House was cheering and celebrating it, and they had a lot of expectations for Headmaster Black at the time." Nearly Headless Nick, said, "Although even Slytherin House's own students couldn't stand him later on."

"So what the hell has he done that angered his own people." Ron muttered.

"I can't speak ill of him behind his back, he was once a Headmaster of Hogwarts after all, you can check it out by yourselves." Nearly Headless Nick said as he drifted off and flew away.

At the table, the golden trio froze for a moment and continued to eat with their heads down.

" Any new news?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Today? Nope." She said briefly.

" International Confederation of Wizards still hasn't approved Professor Dumbledore's application?" Ron asked.

" Well, not this soon, but the preparations have started, in fact, the event will proceed whether they agree with it or not, it will just be a lot less impactful." Hermione explained to them the reasoning behind it, "And it will also slow down the speed at which the ancient practical runes will be promoted in other wizarding schools."

Harry suddenly gave a violent cough.

"Is there such a thing? Did I overlook it?"

"It's obvious... It mentioned, that they would invite experts in ancient runes and the Headmasters of other wizarding schools... Why do you think they would do that?" Hermione asked rhetorically.

Putting it that way, Harry and Ron somewhat understood the reason.

"How's the 'pumpkin pie' doing these days, any ideas?" Ron asked after a few moments, " I have to deal with a lots of assignments and the little time I have is reserved for Quidditch practice." He groaned, "I kind of understand what Fred and George were saying, O.W.Ls year really does stress people out - since it peels a layer off our skin!"

"I asked Hedwig to send him a big bag of snacks." Harry said honestly. He wondered if Hagrid had shared it with Grawp; there wasn't enough in that bag to even feed that giant a single bite.

"Ugh, I send him one as well," Hermione sighed, "I wish he'd come back sooner, Professor Grubbly-Plank is obviously getting more popular."

"Professor Grubbly-Plank has to deal with a lot of her own mess," Ron said, "She has her own small estate with a few magical creatures in it. Fred mentioned that she has a large colony of fire crabs on her estate ..."

Harry and Hermione looked at him at the same time.

"How do you know that?"

Ron shrugged, "Fred and George have a shop in Hogsmeade, and Professor Grubbly-Plank's estate is nearby, a few Crups ran out of an estate once and Fred and George helped her catch them back."

"How come I've never seen that pet shop in Hogsmeade?" Harry couldn't help asking.

"There is no shop, Professor Grapeland only takes private orders from foreign countries. Every kind of pet requires a special licence."

"A special licence?"

"Yeah, things like fire crabs, Crup, and Jobberknolls which are somewhat risky but not particularly dangerous can be used as wizard pets, but of course, children are out of the question, Charlie was particularly obsessed with Moke - a lizard that shrinks at will - for a while, but we only have cats and gnomes around the house, with some occasional harmless little creatures that will come and go... ..."

At the weekend Harry gathered the members of the dueling study group together and a few extra people showed up than last year. Luna had come along and curiously surveyed the Room of Requirement while Ginny whispered in Harry's ear for an explanation, as she acted as if they had accidentally entered the wrong room.

"We'll train a few things that aren't taught in class, like Patronus Charm, runic magic, some very practical spells like the Four-Point Spell that will show the way, and all other things we mastered during the tournament. It's not just about learning magic, we can all sit and chat too, or occasionally go outside to the Black Lake to blow off some steam." Harry explained to the crowd his plans for the dueling self-study group.

"Where is this place?" Ginny asked.

" It's Room of Requirement, it will provide us with training space and most importantly the equipment that we can use as we please without having to think about the damage." Harry instantly said.

The crowd looked around with amazement as rows of targets and mats appeared out of thin air as they watched. They looked at it all with fascination.

For the next while, Harry, Ron, and Hermione instructed the others to shoot Red Sparks with their wands, "Don't underestimate it, it can save your life in a pinch." Ron said half-truthfully. Everyone here could manage to make sparks from their wands, but it wasn't enough to use them for warning purposes.

After the first activity, they parted in front of the tapestry of trolls before the Room of Requirement.

"Not that bad, was it?" Hermione said.

"Yeah." Harry said vaguely, not wanting to explain his feelings about the two minutes he had spent alone with Ginny, he felt like he had done something wrong, and anyway neither he nor Ginny had brought up the subject of how to make the sparks more focused and brighter, but again Harry couldn't remember exactly what they had talked about.

They went down the revolving staircase and prepared to eat in the great hall. At the stair from the third to the ground floor they heard a loud noise coming from the entrance hall, and they looked at each other and picked up their pace in unison, the sound became clearer, it is a woman's shriek.

"What's happening?" Ron asked in shock.

Many people crowded in the entrance hall, densely packed, enclosing a central space, and the chatter noise kept rising. People in the back row craned their necks in excitement to look ahead as Harry, Ron and Hermione struggled to get through the crowd, " Make a way, there are two Prefects here!" Ron shouted.

"Who isn't?" Draco Malfoy whispered in his ear.

Ron was startled, followed by a look of disgust, "What are you doing here?"

"Watching the fun," Draco said slowly, "Or based on your excuse, I'm doing my duty as a Prefect?"

Ron's face flushed.

Harry didn't say anything as he caught a brief glimpse of Professor Hap, who stood solemnly in front of the crowd like he had run into an extremely difficult problem. But the professor isn't at the centre of this incident - he's just a bystander. Harry shifted his eyes to look at the two women who stood at the center of the crowd, Muggle Studies Professor Charity Burbage yelling at Professor McGonagall, "Let me go, Minerva, let me go!"

"I won't allow you to leave." Professor McGonagall tightened her lips and said dryly, "Neither Headmaster Dumbledore would."

Professor Bubarge had two trunks trailing beside her, well stuffed and bulging, and it looked like that was everything she had, and Harry listened for a moment, learning from the chatter of the crowd that Professor Burbage suddenly wanted to leave the school for some unknown reason.

"Professor Burbage has not been in her best condition lately." A third-year girl said sadly.

"She's in a trance ..."

"Maybe she's too eager to finish that new book." A well-informed student said.

In the middle of the entrance hall, Professor McGonagall tugged Burbage hard and refused to let go as she sternly said, "Charity, if being locked up in a muggle prison is still bothering you ..."

"...It's not because of that." Professor Burbage sobbed.

"Then what is the reason?"

Professor Burbage's eyes suddenly widened, and she stared listlessly at the dimly lit ceiling as if something unseen is preparing to swoop down and take her away, she shuddered and sobbed, "It's a nightmare ... I, I've become a Squib!"

An uproar erupted in the entrance hall.

--

#Jacob Slade, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 602 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

What is magic?

Magic, incantations, gestures, emotions, thoughts, knowledge, wands, beliefs ...

As his research progressed, step by step Felix eliminated unnecessary components and approached the essence of magic more and more truly. At a certain moment, Felix had the idea that magic is the basis for the existence of all incredible phenomena, the source of miracles, while the mind or soul points the way to miracles.

When the two are united, it allows the mind to do what it wants.

And the accidental magic riot of the little wizard is the closest thing to this description; they can do miracles without mastering a profound spell, only with the guidance of strong emotion - in other words, a power of the mind - to perform a high level of spell casting that many wizards would never be able to do in a lifetime.

This is, of course, referring to the complexity of the magic at work, rather than discussing the amount of power.

When young wizards are enrolled in school, they begin to systematically learn how to harness magic and learn how to move it so that it will work like a charm. This is in fact a shift from instinct to skill; from Wild casting to Rational one.

Magic naturally forms an essential part of a wizard's cognition.

What would happen if one day this part of cognition is destroyed?

The scene unfolding in front of him seemed to offer an answer.

Felix gazed at the hysterical Professor Burbage, who, from his perspective, had magic inside her like he had never seen before - a mess, like a ball of wool torn haphazardly apart. But he is certain that she is definitely not a Squib.

There is a real Squib living in Hogwarts school, his name is Argus Filch, and he is the Caretaker of the castle. Felix's eyes darted out towards the crowd, where Filch is standing in the doorway of the Caretaker's office which is immediately adjacent to the entrance hall, the sound of a magical gramophone emanating from the unclosed door should be heard here if he wishes.

He is carrying a set of keys in his hand, looking stunned, and Mrs Norris is curled at his feet.

Felix withdrew his gaze as he once again got confirmation from Filch that the two had very different types of magic in their bodies. Of course, the Squibs have magic, but it barely can make any difference, because it can never be honed, neither the quantity nor quality is comparable to that of even a young magical-childrens. The magic in their bodies is idle beyond belief, like a secluded pool ... or more accurately, like a small puddle of dead water.

"Professor McGonagall, it would be best to take Professor Burbage to the hospital wing and have Madam Pomfrey examine her, she may have been struck by some weird curse." Felix cautioned, which of course is an excuse, but there was no need to make some things public.

He couldn't give an accurate conclusion at the moment either, so rather than saying the half-truth and leaving the students to speculate, he might as well keep his mouth shut for now.

After all, half-truths and rumours are no different; they are basically the breeding ground for rumours.

Professor Burbage heard this in a trance and, as if grasping the last straw, she said in a panic: "Yes, it's a curse! Those books - the ones I brought back from the muggle world - they messed with my head! Oh, Merlin! There's a wicked curse hidden in every word of that book ..."

A loud intake of breath was heard throughout the entrance hall.

"Muggle books hide curses?" A student asked in a low voice.

"Possible, Mum told me to stay away from anything related to Muggles." Another student said sagely.

"Nonsense!" Hermione said feistily, and that boy glared at her, before turning his face away in disbelief at the sight of the Prefect badge pinned to her chest and muttered under his breath, "My mum said that."

"Charity, let's go to the hospital wing, you'll be healed." Professor McGonagall gently whispered.

But Professor Burbage continued to repeat the same words, occasionally stopping to sniffle sharply, Felix shook his head slightly, his eyes flickered, and then the insane Professor Burbage slowly collapsed into Professor McGonagall's arms without consciousness.

The crowd was awfully quiet as if the words she had just said are still floating in the air, manifesting themselves as horrific creatures and flaring their fangs and claws at them.

Felix was compelled to say aloud, "Everyone!" His voice reached a long distance, and the students in the room fixed their eyes on him in bewilderment, even the few professors who had just arrived, looked at him blankly, hoping for an answer.

It is simply because the news that came out of Professor Burbage's mouth was so alarming: normal wizards turned into Squib? It is something that had never happened before.

"Something is wrong with Professor Burbage's body, there is no doubt about that, the cause is unclear at the moment, so I need you all to remain calm." He spoke calmly, slowly moving his gaze to encompass those present, a convincing power radiating from his body from the inside out.

"I don't want you to forget my other two identities - muggle researcher and memory healer - so Professor Burbage's trouble happens to be my area of expertise, so instead of rambling on, ask me, of course, after the session."

He passed a glance towards Professor McGonagall, who understood and led Professor Burbage away hastily with her wand, several professors followed. Snape stood by the wall, his dark eyes flickered, as he also paced in the direction of the hospital wing.

The students looked at each other blankly -

"Oh - ahm - AHM," Justin Finch-Fletchley hooted abruptly, startling everyone, and the companion next to him dashed to one side frightened, as he slapped his chest exaggeratedly. After a few seconds, Justin stated "I remember, it's true that there are some cursed items in the Muggle world, but they're all smuggled out of the magical world by dark wizards; Once Professor Hap had even helped me examine a vase made by a goblin!"

"There is such a thing?" His friend Susan Bones asked.

"I can testify about that." Ernest Macmillan, a Hufflepuff student who had just been frightened, said with a straight face, trying to salvage his image.

The frozen air in the entrance hall melted away and the chatter heated up, with a fair number of the young wizards crowding around Justin to hear more clearly.

...

The Hospital Wing is packed with people.

Pretty much all the professors had arrived upon hearing the news, and there are even many students standing crowded in the corridor of the hospital wing, and Professor McGonagall had to go outside every few minutes to maintain discipline and keep the chaotic students quiet at bay.

Some people - like Hermione and Ron - were caught in the middle of it, running back and forth in the corridors to maintain order. In an atmosphere of chaos, Madam Pomfrey finished her inspection.

"This is simply the strangest case I have ever seen in a patient, everything about her body is normal, except for the magic. Usually, this is the most difficult condition to deal with, even if she had an arm missing I could fix it." She kept shaking her head with a confused expression, "I can't judge, but she is not Squib, but the symptoms-"

There was another clamour from outside and Professor McGonagall stood up in a huff, her chest heaving violently, "Can't those students just look at the clock! I'll make sure they get a point deduction!" She gasped and rushed to the door, opening it to see a tall, slim wizard standing outside.

Professor McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief, "You're finally here, Dumbledore. Charity she-"

"I know all about it." Dumbledore nodded at her, looking around first, his gaze seemed like it held magic, soothing the restlessness in the Professor's mind, then he strode over to the bed and bent down to examine Professor Burbage's state, his silver-white beard trailing down to the bed sheet.

After a good while, he straightened up, and a hint of confusion tinged his eyes. "I can conclude that she has not become Squib, and it certainly is not some curse-"

"Headmaster Dumbledore is it possible that it could be an Obscurus, I've read about it in books and its characteristics are similar to the magic in her-" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Absolutely not." Dumbledore said with conviction.

He looked at the others in the room and Professor Flitwick said as he tip-toed, "I don't see any hidden magic spells." Snape stood in the corner and said with a blank face, "Nor is it the effect of a potion." Professor Sprout chimed in, "She hasn't made any recent contact with plants and herbs like sneezewort or Scurvy grass."

"Maybe then it's not the effect of magic." Trelawney, who is wearing a pair of large glasses, peeked out from behind Astronomy Professor Sinistra and Care of Magical Creatures Substitute Professor Grubbly-Plank as she looked toward the sickbed.

"Thank you, Sybill." Dumbledore said briefly.

He looked over at Felix, who had just opened his eyes and had an odd expression on his face as he looked at the other side of the bed, and asked softly, "How did you and Charity communicate recently?" The eyes of a few professors in the ward widened, staring at Felix's face in unison, trying to discern something.

Felix hesitated for a moment, "Albus, you'd better see it for yourself."

Dumbledore met his gaze calmly, his blue eyes drifted for a moment under his half-circle glasses, and then he found himself in a strange world of vibrant colours: there is no way to tell up from down, no place to land underneath his feet, and he is surrounded by an empty, dark landscape as if he is in the space. Dumbledore surveyed his surroundings with interest as a coiled double spiral structure formed a golden staircase that stretched from near to the end of his sight at infinity. This is followed by a large ball of blue light that sparkled like lightning, radiating a bright white current that filled only part of the void. The gold and blue intertwined with each other clearly and distinctly, forming a large obscure and indeterminate shadow of light at the edges where they made contact with each other.

"This is ...," Dumbledore slowly said.

"Professor Burbage's dream world." Felix replied briefly.

As he spoke, a familiar voice rang out from nowhere, it belonged to Charity Burbage, her voice much more Ethereal than usual, with echoes as if it came from the open plains, and her tone filled with confusion and fear, as it sounded from all directions, "Why ... why is there no magic in this ..."

Dumbledore, with a solemn expression, spoke up and explained, " During the summer holidays Charity had been involved in an accident, she visited a dozen Muggle biologists in quick succession, and on the last visit, she became very agitated and possibly at that point her body developed this problem, her wand warned her, but unfortunately, the Muggle professor she was talking to suspected she was hiding a gun and rushed up to knock her out and report it to the police. She was quite distracted when I brought her out ..."

"Minerva and I talked about it." Felix showed a reminiscent look, "At the International Conference on Muggle Studies two years ago, Professor Burbage had shown curiosity in biology knowledge, but what she was studying at the time is very basic, a level roughly similar to a first-year Levitation Charm? Her presentation was interrupted due to an accident when Ilvermorny students attacked the Hotel ... I have paid little attention to her area of research and progress since then, and it is apparent that Professor Burbage has not given up, and her research has gotten deeper and deeper in the past two years."

Dumbledore gazed at the strange dreams of Charity Burbage, "She is unable to comprehend that new knowledge?"

"Worse than that - she understood it, but couldn't incorporate it into what she already knew." Felix said.

Dumbledore pondered for a moment, oblivious to the echoing voice of Professor Burbage drifting around the dream, "Is it another system? One that conflicts with magic?"

"Magic and science." Felix said lightly, "The two are like two circles, each has developed a very different system over the millennia, if you look at them in comparison: magic is sentimental and versatile; science is rational and rigorous, and they have grown increasingly distinct from each other, forming two brilliant flowers of civilization ... "

"But unfortunately, our Professor Burbage has discovered the intersection of the two by mistake." Dumbledore said with emotion.

"That's right," Felix said, "her cognition is too inclined towards wizardry, and as a witch, she is undoubtedly well-qualified, but on the other hand - pardon me for saying this - her scientific knowledge is pathetically low, but she is under the delusion that she can use the wisdom she has accumulated through her life to understand another logically rigorous behemoth, and that is very difficult to accomplish without clearing many problems."

"So that's the case." Dumbledore exhaled softly and looked at the dreamscape before him, "Now that we know why, it becomes easier to solve Charity's current troubles - there are more than one way to solve it, and we can let Charity choose exactly which one to use when we go out."

Felix nodded, as he thought of the same.

The most straightforward way to fix it is by making Charity Burbage forget the memories involved, then treating her as a newly enrolled young wizard, and letting her reorganize her magic knowledge all over again. The whole process is not that difficult, but of course, she may not be happy about it.

The other method is more difficult, instead of erasing her memories, she must rediscover the magic and solidify her cognition despite the presence of disruptions.

But either way, I'm sure Dumbledore would warn her to stay away from such a 'dangerous' knowledge for a short time.

Felix regretted a little that he hadn't given out his Christmas present yet, but he didn't dare give anything related to the Muggle world now, who knew if it would touch her nerve. The incident had also woken him up to the problems that are in the middle of his goal; he had been secretly trying to promote the integration of the wizarding and normal world in the past, and now it seemed he had a long way to go.

Perhaps a buffer zone should need to be created in between the two, somewhere between the opening and closure of the wizarding world, a careful balancing point...

A limited degree of openness? Felix mused.

Dumbledore sighed, "She is supposed to be the wizard who will push this area of knowledge to the limit in centuries."

"She is indeed a pioneer." Felix agreed.

"And what about you?"

"Me?"

"Your achievements in the field of Muggle studies are equally admirable," Dumbledore said softly, "I have read your book, which contains a considerable amount ... of scientific knowledge, and as far as I know: one can only formulate something through the words if they have an idea or deep knowledge about it."

"You are thinking that I have studied it more deeply than Professor Burbage?"

"That is what puzzles me most. You have never seemed to be troubled by this? And you also managed to apply that concept in the company you founded - Future World is said to spend a significant portion of its expenses on muggle items, but those employees aren't as ... well, the only difference I can think of is that the areas of research are different." Dumbledore said in a tone that explored the truth.

"There are indeed reasons for that." Felix said, "The development strategy I have for the company - at least the preliminary research - is to draw on the ideas and purposes of Muggle technology products before trying to replace them with magic. I didn't ask them to master the principles behind it, and it's especially important to note that -" he crossed his fingers, "the concepts of mechanics, physics, chemistry ... are either available to wizards themselves. Or are still blank and do not seriously conflict with their cognition. Unlike Professor Burbage, she has touched the most essential and radical problems."

"As for the fact why I am personally unaffected, I think it may have something to do with my origins, which have made me hold both magic and science with equal regard, as well as the fact that I don't think I can easily master the power of both with my own hand." Felix said.

Dumbledore smiled, "Ah, a marvellous vision is born in me, as your job advertisement in the paper stated - what kind of sparks would come from the combination of Muggle wisdom and magic?"

"That's right, I'll wait in anticipation to see what will happen."

"You are too modest, Felix, and if I had to find one word to describe this, I would say: fruitful." Dumbledore said. In the dream world, Charity's voice rang strong and weak, as if she had been wandering through the dream world, begging for answers over and over again.

"Genes ... DNA... Evolution ... Why is there no place for magic in it?"

"Have you thought about how to deal with this?" Dumbledore asked thoughtfully.

Felix magically understood what Dumbledore meant: Dumbledore hadn't demanded an answer itself, that wasn't realistic or immediately available. He simply wanted to know how to deal with this type of conflict of ideas and concepts if wizards and normal people are destined to merge.

"Haven't thought about it before." Felix said bluntly.

"And now?"

" Have a little idea!"

Dumbledore looked at Felix with a smile. Felix seemed to have the illusion that he had gone back three years ago as if they are sitting in that circular headmaster's office, and he is being interviewed for a serious job, rather than exploring issues in a professor's bizarre dream world.

"In the short term, magic to magic and science to science, with an artificial buffer zone drawn to give each other plenty of time to adjust." He said seriously.

The voices in the dream world suddenly fell silent, as if Professor Burbage's subconscious mind is also listening at the side, and there was a terrible silence around them as the blue ball of light and the golden spiral structure parted a little, revealing a large black area in between.

"Limiting the communication to a certain level?" Dumbledore nodded, "Good thinking, so who will be the bridge in between?"

Felix hesitated for a moment before voicing his thoughts, " The Ministry of Magic was unintentionally doing this before, now it is Future World Company who is actively promoting it, in the future, it will be all the young wizards from Muggle families working together ..."

Dumbledore made no comment on that as he simply said, "Let's get out of here, the people outside should be waiting impatiently ... Speaking of which, I wonder if Charity has any chance of being on the Chocolate Frog card? And what will her introduction look like?"

"It's really something to look forward to."

--

Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 604 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

Felix and Dumbledore opened their eyes at the same time, and the professor in the room looked at them intensely.

"Are you guys whispering?" Sirius asked in an irritated tone, "We've been staring at you guys like idiots for five minutes."

This statement should be true, as they were in someone else's dream world, Felix didn't use thought acceleration, so the amount of time that passed in the dream world would be the same as the amount of time that passed in reality.

Snape waved his sleeve in distaste and walked further away.

"You could interpret that as two healers discussing a treatment plan and not wanting to be disturbed by a certain bloke making noise." Felix said teasingly, "Speaking of which, didn't taking your students to Apparite all day long drained your energy?"

Sirius smacked his lips and muttered, "I should have asked for a raise."

At that moment, Professor Burbage awoke from her bed, looking flustered at first, but when Dumbledore's bright azure eyes looked at her through the lenses, she quickly calmed down and looked at Felix with a smile.

"Charity, I don't want my words to sound like an accusation, but you really shouldn't be shouldering all these problems alone." Dumbledore said gently, "You can always ask for help at Hogwarts."

Professor Burbage took a deep shaky breath, tears welling up in her eyes as she covered her face and said, " I aam-am sooo sorry."

Madam Pomfrey stepped forward and handed her a steaming mug, "Dear, Drink this hot chocolate, it will make you feel better." She took it, and took a sip, as she whispered, "I was so silly ..."

"Charity, what's going on? I heard part of it from the students, but their claims are ridiculous... Squib? That is impossible." Flitwick said pointedly, "Maybe we can help."

"It's The Shadow." A low, slow voice echoed through the ward, "I saw a lot of wizards, shadows, but couldn't make out their faces ..."

"You mean the ancient runes exchange in Hogsmeade?" Professor McGonagall said nonchalantly, "Thank you, Sybill, but I can't pretend like I didn't see the news in the papers ... October 27th, three weeks from now."

"Of course not!" Trelawney exclaimed, glaring at Professor McGonagall as if she had insulted her, "I had predicted that there would be a twist in that exchange ... Fate warned me of a very different thing ... "

"Then can you explain it more clearly?" Professor McGonagall asked patiently, forcing a hum out of her nose.

"Well ... Inner eye are not allowed to be misused, but ... yes, I did see something," Trelawney struggled to keep her eyes open and tilted her head, her lenses flickered as she used a deliberately shaky voice, "It seems to be an island, no, maybe a castle ..."

The others weren't interested in hearing anymore, so they returned their attention to the person in the hospital bed.

Professor Burbage's lips quirked as she hesitated, unsure of how to speak. No one urged her, and then after a while, she finally opened her mouth, "It was my own fault - I learned something from the muggle world and ended up doubting myself ... and magic as well. Alas, I was a fool."

"I changed my mind a few times midway through." She said softly, " Probably about two years or so ago, I first came across a book titled 'The Biography of Mendel', which contained knowledge that is in line with me. Some of the ideas coincided with what I've long thought," she darted a glance at Dumbledore, "You know, I'm against 'pureblood supremacy' ... of course, Muggle books won't mention wizards, but the implication is pretty much similar."

Then she began to say unfamiliar terms like "Mendel", "pea experiment", "genes" and "cross-breeding" unconsciously to the bewilderment of those around her. They looked at Dumbledore and then at Felix.

"In a nutshell, it's a term coined by muggles when they study the grand subject of 'life'." Felix summarized it.

The realization dawned on a few professors, which made it much easier for them to understand.

Professor Sprout scrutinized Professor Burbage, "No wonder you've been frequently looking for me to talk to for a while, it's almost as if you were studying plants as if they are human beings."

"Plants? How can a human be the same as a plant?" Professor Sinistra shook her head for a moment.

" Not exactly," Professor Burbage retorted, "that book was only for enlightenment, their research methods were quite rudimentary back then and have been enriched in the last decade or so ... I mean, Mendel was a man from the nineteenth century ."

Felix blinked, speaking of which, when was Headmaster Dumbledore born? He found the thought somewhat offensive, so he sensibly refrained from uttering a word.

"You're way ahead of a lot of people if I had to judge, Charity." Dumbledore said gently, "But ... how did you get yourself into such a dangerous situation?"

"I, alas." She said with a sigh, "Two years ago, I attended a Muggle research conference which ended up being interrupted by an accident, which prevented me from presenting my hastily completed paper. Before that, Professor Hap had advised me that my research would attract collective opposition from pure-blooded wizards. I didn't listen much. ..."

She huffed, "I was optimistic that if I researched far enough I could prevail in the foreseeable disputes and silence them with irrefutable evidence."

Professor Burbage said, in a less polite tone.

"Then my research stalled, so I turned to the muggle books that had given me so much inspiration. I bought the most advanced professional books, magazines, and papers and stuffed my head with them, I was slow, there were too many out-of-the-box words and roundabout logical connections ... To be honest, at first, I didn't think muggles would do anything phenomenal ... I just wanted to find new ideas and refine my own theories from them. But as my research progressed, I discovered a terrible truth: muggle research into the nature of life had no magic in it, not a word ... but their theories are unexpectedly self-contained ... I was unconvinced and tried to find out the flaw, and alas, then the nightmares started to appear."

Her eyes filled with fear, she shivered and took a large sip of hot chocolate, the delicious liquid giving her courage as she began to tell the most crucial part of the story.

"Although my conscience was rejecting it, my subconscious had accepted the theories and my research shifted silently: I wanted to integrate the two perspectives. I mean, fusing them together ... it was truly out of my league ... as a result, my mind was completely messed up," Professor Burbage shuddered, a look of confusion flashed in her eyes again. "It was strange how amazingly similar they were in some points, but diametrically opposed in others ... I couldn't reconcile those contradictions, so I chose to visit the Muggle biologists over the summer, but this had brought even more terrible consequences, I actually started to doubt the magic ... eventually, finally ..."

Her mouth clamped shut and the ward fell silent.

Every professor fell into contemplation. Snape looked at Felix with eerie eyes, his face calm as a rock or a plant growing in the dark, but his mind is fluctuating violently.

The boy had almost screwed him up.

The Christmas present he had given him! Those chemistry books! Although Felix had only gifted him the Middle School Experiment Guidebook, but he had stumbled past a bookshop in Muggle Alley during the summer holidays and purchased a few chemistry books on a whim, which he had found beneficial after a careful reading ...

Snape's expression looked condescending, he leaned against the wall with his shoulders hugged, and no one could guess what he was thinking. He did see a lot of inconsistencies in the chemistry book compared to the wizard's perceptions, but he didn't take the bull by the horns, because he had known one thing early on, that muggles didn't have magic powers, and even if the recipe for the potion is given to those people, and they follow the same steps all over again, the best they will get is a stinking pot of pus.

Thinking of this, he glanced coldly at Professor Burbage, who doubted her wizard blood, no wonder she was betrayed by her own magic.

At that moment, Sirius broke the silence in the room.

"Why do we have to dwell on these questions?" He spread his hands, "I modified a motorbike with James ... I mean, an adventure to a muggle shop, ahem, to investigate Death Eaters! That's right, that's when ... we couldn't even figure out what was the purpose of the spark plug back then, but it didn't stop us from keeping it, and we didn't find it much of an eyesore when we sat on it."

"That's a different thing." Snape said.

"I'd say it's the same thing," Sirius retorted subconsciously like always, " Or maybe do you think you can master all the knowledge? That nothing is impossible?"

Snape glanced at him coldly and ignored him altogether, "Headmaster Dumbledore, if there is no further problem, I will take my leave." With that, he walked out of the ward and after a few seconds, his very energetic voice rang out from the entrance.

"No spells in the corridors! Twenty points off for Gryffindor!"

Sirius couldn't sit still, he made a lame excuse to leave, and soon there was a heated argument sounded from the corridor.

"Severus Snape! Don't you try to deduce points for nonsense again!"

"Ah," Dumbledore snapped out of his deep thoughts and turned his head to Professor McGonagall, "Minerva, you'd better go out and check it out and separate them before they cause any more trouble, I don't want to see news about Hogwarts professors fighting in the headlines." After Professor McGonagall left, the others left one by one.

When the ward was left only with Dumbledore, Charity Burbage, Felix, and Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore explained the two most viable treatments to Professor Burbage and, as expected, she did not choose the seemingly easy method.

"I don't want to forget that knowledge," Professor Burbage said after a moment of hesitation, "I'll be more careful later!"

"If you insist." Dumbledore respected her choice, but he still warned her, "But you can't do any more research like that for a short term."

Professor Burbage nodded heavily.

"It would be best to bring Charity to St. Mungo's for a period of recuperation; the conditions here are too rudimentary to deal with this kind of problem." Madam Pomfrey suggested.

"But I don't want to be absent ... I, alas, all right." Professor Burbage agreed.

Dumbledore stood up with relief, "That's settled then, please wait, I will need a few minutes to explain to the students, their little minds are always full of all sorts of strange notions, and it is best not to leave them to their own devices ..."

He walked out of the ward and his soft voice was faintly heard from outside:

"... I am happy to announce that ... there will be no long-term effects ... too much strain and need to rest for a few days... . It won't be long before I will return you an intact professor ..."

In the ward, Felix also prepared to take his leave.

"Professor Hap," Professor Burbage called out to him after a moment's hesitation, "I'm sorry I didn't follow your advice."

"It was something no one expected," Felix said calmly, "I understand what you did: it's hard for a normal person not to be tempted by the discovery of a treasure on the side of the road." He expressed his empathy for what had happened to Burbage, but more than that, he started to self-reflect.

He considered another issue in his mind if one day wizards made their identity public, a place where wizards and muggles could coexist would have to be established in order to facilitate communication between the two sides. It would be like a testing ground where all ideas, both mature and immature, could be put into practice ...

It would not be a good idea to build this place either in Diagon Alley, or Hogsmeade, there are more realistic factors to consider - such as the attitude of the Muggle government. But Trelawney's words had given him some inspiration, an island ...

Felix thought about it, and wondered if he could build it in the future?

...

Professor Charity Burbage did not stay at St. Mungo's for long, she returned from the hospital after only two days of absence, which kept the rumours going among the student group from making any waves, and with her return to teaching, especially after demonstrating the levitation charm in class, the rumours that originally seemed flimsy fell apart even faster.

Peace returned to Hogwarts Castle, and as the 27th of October drew nearer, the newspapers began to report lengthy articles about ancient rune exchange, with a steady stream of photographs of the Hogsmeade venue.

One student flipped through the latest newspaper, which showed a picture of the incomplete venue, with dozens of staff standing in a small clearing in the middle of Hogsmeade village, directing blocks of planks to appear in the right place.

"It looks like a huge open-air auditorium." The student reading the paper said.

"Rather like a dueling ring." His friend corrected.

Their views represented most of the students. The Hogwarts students had their own separate emphases regarding the exchange, and they had automatically divided into two factions, one focusing on the exchange itself, discussing who would be there and what the event would result in, while the other firmly focused on the interlude of the exchange - the challenge section.

Coincidentally, the latter view prevailed mostly in Gryffindor and Slytherin House.

--

Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 605 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

A student spoke enthusiastically in the Slytherin common room.

"Look at that circular field with the familiar star pattern, it's exactly like the ring used in the International Wizarding Duels!" Randolph said excitedly.

People in the common room looked up, and pairs of scrutinizing eyes focused on him. The room was silent, apart from the slow pattering sound of the ghostly green lake against the basement window.

The Greengrass sisters put down their quills, and Astoria, the younger sister, blinked twice as if she had found something amusing, and she simply pushed the parchment, ink bottles, and thick reference books in front of her to her sister's side, while she leaned on the table with one hand and cocked her head to watch the fun, much to the annoyance of her sister Daphne. "Astoria, you little bore ..." Astoria made a face at her, causing Draco opposite to them to snicker as he lazily leaned back in one of the armchairs, Pansy who is occupying the seat next to him fiddled with an emerald green silver silk ribbon bow. A little further away, Crabbe and Goyle are eating chocolate cake, and the crumbs splattered on the head of the Millicent Bulstrode's cat, which whimpered, as it raised its tail and wriggled free from its owner's thick arms to jump in front of a young first-year witch, "Go away, stupid." Who said, while her eyes stared intensely at Randolph's face.

Randolph wasn't too nervous to speak because of the gazes, instead, his voice raised involuntarily. He waved his hand so hard that the newspaper in his hand almost hit the student next to him in the eye, but he didn't notice it at all; his full attention is focused on what he is going to say next.

"This means ... that all my previous guesses were right, Professor Hap is finally no longer going to hide his strength!" He stated in a lower tone, his tone laced with obvious glee and anticipation.

"Did he hide it?" The male student who had almost been hit muttered in a whisper.

"Gee, I mean, if I had that kind of strength, I'd certainly want the whole world to know about it." Randolph paused for a few seconds with rather a theatrical indignation on his face, "Did you by any chance didn't notice that there were people in the papers dissing the professor a while back, saying he just knocked out a few drunks ..."

"I dunno much about that, I wasn't there during the Quidditch World Cup final." The boy said.

"I went!" Randolph said excitedly, "The Professor was just so cool! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The spell came flying towards him but ended up weirdly stopped in midair." He gestured haphazardly for a few moments and paused in thought to say, "Too bad it was such a mess that there aren't many pictures available."

"I know the professor is strong, but there's no way he could have knocked over a hundred of them at once, right?" His friend looked sceptical.

"How is it impossible?" Randolph said in a low tone, "The Professor saved Potter and the gang from the You-Know-Who, and I heard a Death Eater died then!"

"Randolph!" A student stood up and called out, his face looked as grim as that of his friend who is leaning against the rough stone wall. Nott said coldly, "Watch your words."

The first year witch's eyes widened, and she suppressed her excited voice in her throat while fidgeting and pulling a small green note from her pocket, as she pushed the fat cat in her way and flipped open the note to find the page marked 'Nott', as her eyes glued expectantly at the argument in the common room.

"Mafalda! How dare you push my cat?" Millicent glared at her viciously.

"Quiet," Mafalda waved her hand carelessly, "before I make you up in a story ..." It seemed like a terrible threat, and Millicent scowled at her and reached out to hold her cat back.

On the other side--

"Did I say something wrong?" Randolph yelled at Nott, "Which of my words do you think is wrong?"

Nott turned red as he tried his best to appear contemptuous and angry, "I was telling you to be careful what you say and not blabber on about the great-"

"Great? Who are you referring to?" Randolph interrupted him nonchalantly, "If I understand you correctly, you are speaking for the You-Know-Who?"

Nott stared angrily at Randolph, but what disturbed him more was that no one in the common room stepped forward to help him. The green light from the lamp hanging overhead shone on his face, sending a chill down his spine.

"I, no ... I just thought that it shouldn't ... be," he stammered.

"Then keep your mouth shut and don't always bring up your pureblood philosophy," Randolph said pointedly, "or I'll assume someone in your family is on the side of the Death Eaters!" He sat down with the air of a victor.

The Slytherin common room was eerily silent, except for Mafalda who enthusiastically scribbling in her green note ... Nott, promoting the philosophy of the You-Know-Who for the past month ... suspected of being influenced by Death Eaters... ...

All underclassmen fidgeted and kept quiet like quails, and those who are slightly older had some bad feelings in their hearts, wondering when the trend in Slytherin House seemed to have changed.

Regardless of the public opinion, Voldemort had always been a Slytherin flag, and before him, it was Phineas Black, but these two flags fell one after another until Felix Hap rose out of nowhere. But they had mixed feelings about the Professor - it is rumoured that the Professor had been treated unfairly by the House when he was at school, causing him to become unaffectionate with the House, which was fine, but as his influence grew, his fame overshadowed the others' day by day, to the point where he has finally reached a level that no one can ignore.

The things that made Slytherin students uncomfortable paled in comparison to his mind-boggling achievements.

For example, the pro-Muggle inclinations that had been secretly criticized were also completely ignored in light of the reality of how rapidly the 'Future World' company had grown and is expected to rival the Gringotts in just over a short period of time. A voice has even emerged that Professor Hap has a unique vision - with his foresight he clocked himself as 'Pro-Muggle', to accumulate wealth effortlessly ...

As for what the truth is, not many people care anymore.

When people mentioned Slytherin House, apart from the legendary figures like Salazar Slytherin and Merlin, the first person they thought of among the wizards who are still alive at the moment, would be Felix Hap rather than the house head Snape, beside the he-who-must-not-be-named.

The change occurred silently and was hardly noticeable to outsiders, but it is nevertheless wielded immense might.

A testament to this is that when news of the You-Know-Who's return emerged, a small group of people prepared to propagate extreme pure-blood philosophy in Slytherin House - just as their fathers had done during the last war - only to be surprised to find a lukewarm response that barely made a ripple.

It was as if there was no market for such talk anymore.

But there could only be one real reason - Felix Hap, who is considered as the new Slytherin flag, is against the pure-blood philosophy!

Despite the fact that he did nothing and gave no preferential treatment to the Slytherin students, he still managed to influence a large group of people just by existing.

It is a third-year Slytherin girl, Astoria Greengrass, who made them really aware of this. She casually said something like, "Professor Hap is definitely going to be Headmaster in the future, and he's a Slytherin, that's all that matters."

This comment sparked a discussion throughout Slytherin House, and they deliberated and concluded that it is a great truth.

If Professor Hap wanted to, there is no obstacle in his way.

Well ... perhaps the only obstacle would be the current Headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore, which is why many fantasized that Professor Hap could fight Dumbledore after the rumours of the Elder Wand came out.

How much power could an invincible wand exercise in the hands of Felix Hap, who has a great variety of ancient magic? The answer to this question is one that made the hearts of all who seriously pondered this question jump; is it possible for the greatest White Wizard ... of this era to stand up against the combination of this two?

But this talk gradually died down, as Professor Hap himself refuted the rumours denying the authenticity of the Elder Wand, much to the dismay of many Slytherin students.

But once some ideas are born, it's hard to dismiss them as nothing.

It is safe to say that in the last half a month, Slytherin House has experienced an undercurrent of ideological conflict from top to bottom. It was also during this collective, all-encompassing reflection that everyone had more or less developed their own inclinations.

Draco Malfoy watched the lukewarm response Theodore Nott received with a cold eye. He felt he needed to have a serious talk with his own father, and this Christmas is a good opportunity ... for the Malfoys to take control of their own destiny, and if not, then turn to the side that is destined to win.

Besides, Muggleborns aren't all that annoying ...

--

#Dominique Rodriguez, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 606 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

Harry and Ron dragged their heavy feet up the marble steps towards the castle, muddy from their recent training, their hair blown around by the wind, and Harry vainly tried to smooth the messy hair.

"Angelina is a second Wood, I should have expected this." Ron grumbled under his breath, but his mind had already begun to look forward to his first game, "I wish I could play against Slytherin right away, so I can teach Malfoy a lesson, he's not going to score a single goal at my hand!"

"He's a Seeker, not a Chaser." Ginny reminded him.

"Of course, I know that," Ron changed his tune at light speed, "Let Harry stop him from getting the Golden Snitch, and I'll guard the goal, we'll both work together perfectly, and it'll be an absolutely flawless combination."

Ginny rolled her eyes.

Harry perked up a little as he said to Ginny, "You're a good flyer, there's hope you'll join the team this year, why not stick around?"

"It's not too late to join the team next year," Ginny said as she smoothed her hair, "I want to wait for Fred and George to graduate."

"They pissed you off?" Ron asked perceptively, "I can help you teach them a lesson."

"That doesn't sound very convincing." Ginny said dryly.

"Er, I mean -" Ron said vaguely, "you could write to Mum and tell her off." A strange look appeared on his face, "Mum hasn't sent a howler in ages, I really miss ..."

"Don't bother," Ginny said, "I don't want others to gossip, you know if you add me to the mix there would be four Weasleys on the team."

Harry noticed a more subtle side to her, and to be fair, it was rather a nonchalant statement, as if it is a sure thing that she will join the team.

Ron froze for a moment in response, he seemed to have just realized that as he counted it up on his fingers, "Fred, George, I ... yeah, if you are added to that, more than half of the players will have Weasley as their last name, ha, that's not bad when you think about it!" He said cheerfully, neither Harry nor Ginny paying any attention to him.

"Which position are you going to play?" Harry asked.

"Seeker." Ginny said.

Harry cocked his head and squinted at her and Ginny pursed her lips, "Well I was joking, I think the Beater position would be good, I just love the idea of slamming a Bludger into someone's face."

Harry suddenly felt a chill run through his body, probably from too much wind ... he should better go to Madam Pomfrey's and pick up some potions for his cold.

"You're going to help me, aren't you?" Ginny asked, staring at his face.

"What?" Harry looked stunned.

"Help me train."

"Oh, uh, sure." Harry said, trying his best not to let his confusion show.

He had a strange feeling lately that Quidditch didn't seem to be as appealing to him as it had been before, something he had felt vaguely since the beginning of the school year when Angelina had asked him about it, and now that it had been over a month since school had started, he couldn't pretend it as a misconception anymore.

Exactly what is the reason?

Harry thought seriously, for one thing, if it was an occasional Quidditch game he would never turn it down - it is one of the few things that relaxes him, after all - but if it involves spending a lot of time on it, he doesn't think it's quite worth it, and he might as well spare that time to hold a dueling study group.

Susan Bones' last suggestion about registering the Dueling Study Group as an official club made perfect sense because the Dueling Study Group wasn't just for Gryffindors now - it had started with Luna, and later Susan Bones, Ernie, Justine and other students from other houses had joined in. Of course, Harry wasn't sure how long they would stick around, and anyway, it seemed to him that these people are more interested in his, Ron's, and Hermione's amazing experiences - whether it's being the youngest winner of the Order of Merlin, or what happened on the graveyard after the third task of the tournament.

Although Ron had already told his story several times, with several revisions in between, "Weasley laughing as he faced Cruciatus Curse" and "Ron defeating Death Eaters", and in his stories, the other three characters were pretty much sidelined.

"You were the one who came up with the idea of using the Ring of Ouroboros to inform Professor Hap?"

"Er, it was Harry."

"So you had the ring with you?"

"Not really, it was Hermione."

"You fought the You-Know-Who?"

"Well ..."

"So you just got hit by the Cruciatus Curse?"

"Of course not! Mate, I took down at least four Death Eaters! We might as well talk about that... Hey, don't leave."

The crowd scattered in disinterest. So after a while, Ron got wise and started lamenting that the History of Magic textbook is too old-fashioned (even though he never personally read it fully), thinking that there are a lot of important events left out of it, and when he was pressed about it, he would talk about how he set a Death Eater on fire with the Bright Fire-making spell. In his words, "That was the first time it [the Bright Fire-making spell] was used in actual combat, and it just doesn't make sense that such an important scene isn't included in a History of Magic textbook ..."

Harry pondered what exactly the name of the club would be if he is going to officially start one. He recalled the names of the clubs he knew of, some of which had been founded by professors at the school and had very straightforward names, the Charms Club, also known jokingly as the Charm (glamour) Club, the Transfiguration Club, the Magic Rune Club ...

They are not exactly that high-end names. Harry also knows that Mr. Slughorn, when he was teaching at Hogwarts, named his Club, the Slug Club, based on his name.

Other than that, there are a few clubs that were created by the students themselves, and that's what he needs, Harry thought.

The first one that came to his mind is the Gobstone Club, but again, it had a little reference point, and the next one that popped into his head - Harry reluctantly remembered - is the 'Harry Potter Fan Club' founded by the Creevey brothers'. He had prayed that it was just an unfunny joke, but it seemed to be true, he had even seen a recruitment flyer in a hidden corner of the common room ...

The Anti-Voldemort Club? Harry was tempted to name the dueling study group that way, but it would probably scare off a large group of people.

Ron's suggestion "The Order of the Phoenix Branch" was also rejected, Hermione suggested to simply call it the Defence Association, D.A. for short, which could also be considered as Dumbledore's Army, which would be a good name, but Sirius warned them, "Don't get Headmaster Dumbledore in trouble, we're on good terms with the Ministry now. Do you want the Ministry to get the wrong idea about us?"

So the name was scrapped.

Finally, Ginny made a suggestion to change the name to "Potter's Lookout" when Fred and George had jokingly suggested "Frontline Lookout", which everyone liked, and if nothing unexpected happened, the name was decided.

When the name was decided, the purpose of the club was outlined - to provide help to students who are preparing to become Aurors, or who are opposed to Voldemort's dark reign, and Harry also intended to share regular updates on the war outside the school - Sirius was well-informed in this regard. The members of the frontline lookout would cheer when Harry informed them that "all was well" during the assembly; they would applaud when Harry announced the name of a captured dark wizard; they would raise their wands in silence when Harry said that an Auror or Hit Wizard had died.

...

"Where's Luna?"

"She's wandering around the Forbidden Forest again, saying she's trying to find the King of Thestral." Ginny said helplessly.

Ron muttered something that sounded like "Loony."

They crossed the foyer and found Hermione hiding behind a suit of armour, waving at them covertly.

Harry looked curiously in the direction she is hiding, a strand of red hair flickering in his vision. But when they walked past, Hermione is all alone, "Huh? Where's everyone? Never mind, you guys come with me." She ran with them to an abandoned classroom.

"Just in case." Hermione said.

More intrigued, Harry followed Ron and Ginny as they looked into the abandoned classroom, where a small girl stood, not very tall, half a head shorter than Ginny, but she had reddish-brown hair and when she turned around - Harry was surprised to find that the girl looked unexpectedly similar to Ginny.

"Who is she?" Ginny asked and sensing a threat she stepped in front of Harry.

Hermione took a step to the side with an odd look on her face, "I thought you guys knew her? Then let her explain it to you personally." The young girl stepped in front of them and looked them up and down nonchalantly, "Youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin?" She completely ignored Ginny.

"So what if we are?" Ron said casually, "You're a freshman in Slytherin House?"

The young girl tore her fiery gaze away from Harry's forehead and scrutinized Ron, "Ronald Weasley?"

A headstrong girl, Harry thought.

The young girl's gaze lingered on Ron's face for a few seconds as she held out her hand, "Mafalda, Mafalda Prewett."

Ron's mouth dropped open in surprise, "Ma, Mom?"

The little girl's face tensed and Hermione couldn't help but cover her face to stop looking.

Ginny slapped Ron on the back of the head, "What a silly thing to say." She looked at Mafalda with a critical eye, "What is your relationship with my mum?"

It dawned on Harry, he vaguely remembered that Mrs. Weasley's maiden name is Prewett.

--

#Dominique Rodriguez, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 606 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

As Ginny asked her question, Mafalda's attention focused on her for the first time, and the two, one taller and one shorter, sized each other up.

Harry noticed that both girls had a slight resemblance to Mrs. Weasley, and both also had reddish hair, but again they had many differences. Ginny's flame-like hair stood out most distinctively, even among the seven Weasley children, and she didn't look at people with aggressive eyes most of the time - though right now is an exception, she looked like a hot turkey that would soon be served on the Halloween table with her hair flaring up.

"I've met Aunt Molly, just once." Mafalda said, "But I met your father more often, and he took me to Diagon Alley to shop around and get some things in advance. He even gave me an owl, and when I went back I wrote to him, and he answered diligently at first, but then he became slower."

"Maybe it's because he's busy, or maybe you're asking too many questions." Ginny said in one breath.

"Maybe, but I don't need him to take me with him anymore, I can do it alone." Mafalda said, "I convinced Mum and Dad to allow me to go to Diagon Alley, what's that line ... getting to know the wizarding world."

"I became interested in everything in Diagon Alley. Old Tom at the Leaky Cauldron had lost all his teeth, but he made good food; when I enquired about Madam Malkin's marital status she threw me out ... I also persuaded the clerk at the Flourish and Blotts Bookshop to allow me to sit in the corner and read, my favourite being Easy Spells to Fool Muggles and the seven-book series of Gilderoy Lockhart's adventures. In the former, I picked out a few spells to learn, and they work quite well, while the latter has been an eye-opener ..."

"Wait!" Harry felt that her statement was so ridiculous that he had to interrupt, and he wasn't the only one who thought so, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all shouted out at the same time as Mafalda glared at them, the scene was a bit comical and the crowd looked at each other for a moment.

"Okay, one at a time." Hermione sighed, she knew since the moment this young girl approached her and said she had great information about the Death Eaters that this is not a student who follows the rules, and sure enough they were all taken aback.

She looked at Mafalda and asked patiently, "Miss Prewett, I believe Mr. Weasley would have told your parents that the magical world is not peaceful right now, so how did you convince them to let you go to Diagon Alley alone?" She actually wanted to accuse Mafalda's parents of being irresponsible more than anything else.

"They do not interact with each other much," Mafalda gestured to herself and Ginny as a way of indicating both parents, "My father and Aunt Molly are related, but I think they aren't on very good terms, which is evident from the stiff conversation between them - -"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Ron interjected as the others looked at him, so he swallowed and murmured, "Mum does have a distant cousin, but she seldom mentions him in the family ..."

"Dad's a Squib, works as an accountant now, and occasionally trades equities. Mum's a muggle and neither of them had much involvement with the magical community before." Mafalda said, "Except for me." She added.

"But-" Hermione was torn, "even if that were the case, there's no way Mr. Weasley wouldn't have warned-"

"Oh, that's easy, I'll just tell Mum and Dad - someone is waiting for me behind the door in Diagon Alley, like Bill Weasley, I know he works in Diagon Alley." Mafalda said with a slight smug look on her face.

Hermione looked shocked. Ginny let out a cat-like purr in anger.

"So you were tricking them?"

Mafalda shrugged, the answer is obvious.

There was a moment of silence in the abandoned classroom and Harry asked, "You know that Lockhart is a, a ..." he hesitated.

"A liar?" Mafalda asked and Harry nodded as she said calmly, "I like the way he tells stories, that's all."

That was the end of the cross-examination, and even though Ron and Ginny didn't like Mafalda much, they still have to pinch their noses since she is their relative.

"What's the purpose of your visit today?" Ginny asked with a stern face, "You should know that Gryffindor House and Slytherin House are deadly rivals, if anyone finds out ..."

"That's why I sneaked over here," Mafalda said with a jolt, as she pulled a green notebook out of her pocket - Harry could tell from some of the details that it's a product of the Muggle world - and she turned the page, but instead of showing it to them, she closed it in front of them and said. "I can give you information about Slytherin House, about the Death Eaters ... but in exchange-"

"Death Eaters?" Harry, Ron, and Ginny said in disbelief.

The three looked at Hermione, who hastily waved her hand, "I don't know any more than you do, she - er -" Hermione spotted the problem, a young girl from a Muggle family who had previously had no inkling about the wizarding world and only been here for a short while, what kind of information could she know?

"Oh?" Mafalda looked at them curiously, " Is it clear, did you understand me? Then I will continue - I certainly won't do this for free, I want you guys to become one of the leads in my story in exchange for it."

Harry looked at her in confusion, what the heck was this all about.

"The, what in your story?"

"The lead role in my story," Mafalda jiggled her finger at him, "haven't I told you, I love history and I love to write, you know Bathilda Bagshot?"

Harry nodded reluctantly, he knew the person, a brilliant historian, she wrote the textbook that is now used in History of Magic classes, she retired and lived in Godric's Hollow. Godric's Hollow ... his heart clenched.

Mafalda didn't notice Harry's difference as she went along with the previous words, "Bathilda Bagshot wrote History of Magic, and there's a quote from her that I particularly agree with, that the happiest thing for a chronicler of history is to be able to talk to history itself."

"You know what that means?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"This thing I'm doing right now is." Mafalda said.

Ron mulled it over and said slowly, "So you're writing us into your story? Um - you just said you liked the Lockhart books?" He shot a knowing look at all of them, "Think about it."

"Harry's not going to agree to that!" Ginny said with a raised eyebrow, looking at Harry uncertainly, "Right?"

"Of course." Harry nodded firmly, he didn't want a heel behind him, the Creevey brothers are more than enough for him to handle. With a firm attitude, he said to Mafalda, "Sorry, I've got a lot on my plate this year, O.W.Ls exams, Quidditch, clubs ... no time to play house with you."

Mafalda blinked and just when Harry thought she would give up, she lowered her head and stared at the notebook which she had just opened and read out one name after another, "Nott, Avery, Selwyn, Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy ... Well, I am not certain about him, do I have to keep reading? "

Harry's mouth dropped open, Ron's mouth not much smaller than his, and Hermione looked at her with a shocked expression.

Mafalda stared at their faces and smiled.

"So they really are related to the Death Eaters?"

"How did you guess-" Harry asked with difficulty, these are the names he had heard Voldemort himself say in the graveyard, each of them holding a significant position in the wizarding world. But they were humbled to the dirt before Voldemort and had to kiss Voldemort's robes to gain forgiveness.

Sirius told him that because there is no evidence, the Ministry of Magic can't arrest them, and for now, they can only employ surveillance. Of course, that wasn't his exact words, Sirius was just as annoyed as Harry about it: "Amelia doesn't agree with the idea of arresting them and giving them two pounds of Veritaserum..." afterward, when he had calmed down, he personally admitted that idea is implausible, "Unless we intend to cause chaos in the wizarding world, or if we'll get arrested first, the moment we try to arrest them..." he said gloomily, "That's the way it is with purebloods, if there's no actual proof, one arrest will bring all of them together to pressure us. "

Mafalda smiled like a fox, "The family name Prewett, it surprisingly has not so bad reputation and is not as eye-catching as Weasley. So what do you guys think? Would I make an excellent undercover agent for ... the righteous cause?"

"I disagree." Harry said quietly.

"Why?" Mafalda asked in surprise, she never expected to be rejected even after she had shown her capabilities.

"Harry, if there's a Slytherin House student willing to help us, even if ..." Ron said.

"No." Harry said, "No!" He repeated once again, "What if she gets found out?"

"Don't worry," Mafalda interjected, "From what I've seen over the past month, Slytherin House isn't what it was rumoured to be, it changed ..."

"Do you know what you're doing? You're dealing with not just some bad students, but a possible real Death Eater! If any Slytherin student mentions you in their house and investigates you behind your back ... will your little smartass still be useful?" Harry glared at her, as a wave of unwarranted anger welled up inside him, "You're pulling your own family into a dangerous situation, and they can't even use magic."

Mafalda pointed unconvincingly at Hermione, "As far as I know, her family circumstances are no different from mine."

Hermione remained silent.

"Because she didn't have a choice-" The blood in Harry's heart rushed to his face.

"I know you're referring to Muggle status-"

"More than that, it's also because she's my friend." Harry said in a low voice, looking at Mafalda with a gasp, "That's right, she's a friend of the Great-Harry-Potter, and Ron also had no choice, from the time he sided with me in the first year ... I had even less choice, being forced to get involved with Voldemort when I was just a baby, and there's a chance for one of us to die, or even die together as a whole."

Mafalda's body suddenly froze.

"I didn't-"

"I don't know what you have mistaken undercover for, if it was just a prank it would be fine, but you're capable, I can see that. Which is even worse, I suppose you never imagined that one day you'd see a picture of your house in ruins with a dark mark over it in the newspaper?"

" I… no- you're wrong!"

"Then tell me the truth." Harry said, gazing down into her eyes.

Mafalda glared back at him without giving up, her eyes glistening with mist, "Just YOU wait!" She gave them a hateful look and turned to run away.

Harry stared at her back, but all he could think of in his mind is the picture of Godric's Hollow he had seen in the old newspaper, a picture of the ruins, just as Moody had told him ... except for some white flowers and candles on the edge of the ruins, which were left by some wizards who had admired them, "With sorrowful condolences ..." The tome said, but Harry felt it was all meaningless, as those words and condolences not going to make his family come back.

Sometimes Harry would just lie in bed and think, if only he could get the Resurrection Stone, even if it couldn't bring back the dead like Luna said it could, just the features in the story of the three brothers that allowed them to see the souls of their loved ones is enough ... instead of just a green flash in his head and his mother's pleading voice ...

"Harry, you better be careful, she doesn't look like someone to mess with." Ron said as he looked in the direction of the classroom door.

"I don't care." Harry said stiffly.

Something suddenly occurred to him, Luna firmly believed in the Deathly Hallows, is there someone she desperately wanted to see as well? She could also see Thestrals.

"She seems quite intelligent," Ron said hesitantly, "and we've accepted other students into the dueling study group. I am sure they would not refuse to fight a Death Eater-"

"She's only eleven." Harry said coldly and Ron shut his mouth. After a moment, Harry asked as an afterthought, "She said Slytherin House had become different ... What's going on?"

Ron said without a smile, "The only one who knows has just been thrown out by you. Why don't we go ask Malfoy?"

Harry cringed a little, he should have asked first.

...

At night, Felix continued his promising job as a bounty hunter, except for the first time he entered the Hog's Head Inn and had a slight disagreement with the barman, the other times he just stood in the doorway with a black weatherproof cloak, and before long his target would 'walk' out on their own.

Hogsmeade has recently gained an additional legend of a powerful ghost.

Of course, because the missing people were all dark wizards, and the worst of the lot, not many people really cared as they had thought - the men would have been hiding their identities, probably just had left because of a sudden urgent matter.

Some of the wizards swore that they had seen a ghost that had extremely powerful magical powers and could take a person's soul away with just a wave of the hand.

"He is the embodiment of death." Said an old wizard obsessed with horror stories.

His performance drew a roar of approval and the old wizard earned himself a glass of hot Firewhisky. The barman at the Hog's Head Inn snorted dismissively and continued to keep his head down and wipe his goblet with a dirty rag.

Felix occasionally found time to visit the premises, which had yet to be completed.

In a clearing in the middle of Hogsmeade village, there is a huge pile of building materials, black and white marble arranged in a circular pattern with a mysterious star design on top. Felix stood with interest in the center of the star and looked around, the whole wizarding village is shrouded by a deep curtain of night, with only a few sparse starlights shining.

Felix stared into the darkness where a faint sound approached, like footsteps, but it was too soft.

The unknown creature's body seemed blurry in Thestrals perspective, indistinguishable from the darkness, and all he could see is a blurry glimmer of bright light that faintly pieced together the appearance of a thin, house-elf.

This view is very distinct from the regular perspectives and visions, even from the magical ones, and if he had to define it, he seemed to be able to see a glowing soul.

" Hello, Mr. Hap, Bondi presents his regards."

The house-elf said in a sharp voice, stopping far away and bowing to Felix. He then looked up into Felix's silvery grey eyes and couldn't help but shiver, the eyes made him shudder.

"What can I do for you, Bondi?"

"Mr. Hap, Bondi brought a letter for you. Forgive Bondi, Bondi was unable to get into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," the house-elf bowed deeply again as he spoke, "Bondi, Bondi has been waiting around for days to finally meet you."

Felix always found the scene at hand somewhat familiar, but the last time the letter had been delivered by a small child, bringing a letter of invitation to battle from Voldemort to boot. He took the letter, and on the envelope, there is a triangle seal: with a circle and a vertical line inside. He stared at the pattern for a few seconds, and his mind grew more than a little suspicious, "Nurmengard?"

The house-elf bent its body even lower.

Felix opened the letter which didn't have a hint of magic attached to it, and there is a simple line written on it, "You're lying, the Elder Wand is not with you."

Felix smiled involuntarily, "The Elder Wand doesn't belong to me, but it doesn't belong to you either, Mr. Dark Lord." So he asked Bondi the house-elf probingly, "Can I have a meeting with Mr. Grindelwald?"

"Sir needs the permission of authority, and Mr. Grindelwald also has no plans to meet with a guest at present." Bondi said respectfully.

Felix smacked his lips, it seemed that Gellert Grindelwald is still locked up and can't get out, but at least he can communicate with the outside world. And writing letters to accuse him of ...

Is this the end of the first Dark Lord?

Dumbledore was too merciful, and Felix felt he would not let Voldemort have a chance to enjoy the same treatment.

He wrote a short reply, his tone filled with regret (or was it mockery?) at not being able to meet with him, and then he handed it to the house-elf along with a couple of books from the ring, "Pass them on to Mr. Grindelwald for me and tell him to um ... pass some time with it, and if he's interested then we can communicate by correspondence later."

He then handed the house-elf a Copper Knut, "You can contact me through this."

When the house-elf, Bondi, disappeared, Felix began to look forward to it, what would be the magical path of this Dark Lord? And what kind of magic does he possess?

After lingering in place for a moment, he started to worry if the wording of his reply was too sarcastic and what if the Dark Lord is a serious guy? He then just laughed at the thought and turned to leave.

...

The last two weeks of October were full of violent storms and towards the end, a cool, and cold rain brought the temperature plummeting even more and the young wizards changed into thick clothes to ward off the knife-like chill.

Many of the students wore gloves even during class time, but their minds were getting more and more active: Halloween, the first game of Quidditch, and the Ancient Runes exchange would be coming up in the following week successively.

As Halloween approached, the castle was once again hung with colourful decorations and the school atmosphere lightened up for the occasion.

Finally, the day of 27 October arrived.

--

#Fiendsjoke, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 607 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!

At nine in the morning, Felix stood in front of the mirror well-dressed and packed up ready to go out.

"Kee?"

Valen voluntarily put on a small scarf and looked at him with an expectant expression.

"Can't take you with me, Valen." Felix bowed his head with an apologetic look, "Not sure if it will be dangerous, so the best option is to stay home."

He removed a memory disk from his ring, which arced through the air and landed steadily on the small square desk in his office.

A dense circle of magical circuits around the edge of the memory disk were illuminated, with smoke billowing from the centre.

" The employees at the company have found a new application of it, in addition to being able to recreate memories. Gee, it's starting to look more and more like the future I envisioned ..." Felix waved his hand again and a tray of small snacks and a jug of juice appeared, "You can watch the live feed through it."

"Hmph!"

Valen hung her head and headed to the sofa.

The entrance hall is crowded with silhouettes of many students who are looking out towards the stone steps outside the entrance hall. The breath they have exhaled has melted the frost off the castle walls and wet streams are running down the rough walls.

"Why won't they allow us to watch it when it's clearly happening in Hogsmeade! What the hell was Headmaster Dumbledore thinking?" One student asked indignantly.

"I heard it is for our safety ..."

"You're joking right?! What danger could there be with Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Hap around? Even if it is the You-Know-Who ..." his voice lowered.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood in a corner of the entrance hall and Ron asked expectantly, "Can't we just let Sirius take us with him?"

" He sort of left us behind intentionally." Harry said sullenly.

Ron looked jealously at Percy on the stone steps, who is beaming and talking to Dumbledore, "There's a lot more of them than expected! I mean - they're all the best in their fields."

There was a sudden silence in the entrance hall as Felix descended the revolving staircase, then the chatter got louder.

"Professor, we're rooting for you!" A student shouted.

Felix smiled at him, "Slytherin plus three points." The student froze, then the support in the great hall got louder and Felix managed to squeeze through the crowd and said to Dumbledore and Percy, "Let's go, are we all set?"

"All set." Percy said hurriedly, "The Ministry has deployed two hundred staff, including fifty Aurors and Hit Wizards, and has made a special one-day holiday for the occasion."

Felix nodded, then looked at Dumbledore without turning.

"Alastor is guarding there." He said briefly.

"This side of the school-"

"There are other professors around, and Fawkes will summon me in a pinch."

Percy was clearly a little confused by the conversation between them, but he managed to answer Felix's next question.

"Where is Ms. Bones?"

"She is also in Hogsmeade. She is hosting the Ministers of Magic from a number of European countries and the Headmasters of magical schools from various parts of the world." Percy said enthusiastically, "Some of them came in early and have been wandering around Diagon Alley for days, probably with a bunch of questions in their stomachs."

They headed down the stone steps in the direction of the school's main entrance. A crowd of bleary-eyed students was left behind.

Harry and Hermione gazed at Professor Hap's distant figure with mixed emotions, and Ron muttered in a small voice, "I've been spending so much time with the Professor every day that I've forgotten how much of a gap there is between me and him, and probably no matter how much we try to catch up, we'll only see the back of him like we do now."

"The Professor is going to be a legend like the most famous wizards in history." Hermione said, biting her lip, with a very reluctant look on her face.

"So, do you think any of our names will be featured in his legend?" Ron asked, intrigued.

Neither Harry nor Hermione said anything.

" Surely it will." A firm voice said.

The trio looked at Neville, who was taken aback by the look they gave him, and mumbled, "It's like a storybook, surely more than one character will be featured, no?"

"You mean as supporting characters?" Ron muttered disgruntled, "Sounds like Mafalda's kind of story, oh yeah, Harry, what has she been making up about you lately?"

"You mean her spin-off stories?" Harry said gloomily, "She describes me as a ranch hand whose daily job is to shovel horse dung."

...

Felix stood in the middle of the Hogsmeade star-shaped platform, surrounded by three layers of wizards from all over the world, with all sorts of purposes in their minds, but at the moment all of them focused their eyes on the young man in the middle of the venue.

"It is well known that every field of study cannot be perfected by one or two people, it is a matter of constantly laying down bricks and blocks on top of those who have gone further before, and that is why I am standing here--"

" Isn't it because of the Elder Wand?" A wizard asked in a hoarse voice.

"I will not rule out the possibility of the wand playing a part in the long journey," Felix looked at him and smiled, "but the misunderstanding brought by my own wand is a private matter, and I will address it in between the speeches. Of course, if one wishes to experience ancient magic in person, it is not impossible, except they need to sign up first ..." He gestured to a table in the corner where two Aurors stood guard.

"Let me continue - any advancement in the discipline of magic will bring us real benefits. Take Wolfsbane Potion as an example ... For centuries, we have been helpless against the werewolf infection, once infected there is no cure, but now that the first brick has finally been laid, I can almost foresee the future: formulas of the potion will be developed, in a more refined and inexpensive way; there will be a flood of analyses and papers related to the potion; of course, new theories will emerge; maybe someone will even invent a more targeted spell based on the principles of potions ..."

" None of this is fantasy; it has been constantly repeated throughout the past few thousand years, like an invisible hand that has pushed the entire wizard community forward a little."

Lupin stood under the huge projection screen and clenched his fists in excitement. If what Felix said came true, he is willing to give his entire savings to support this cause.

The wizards became visibly more interested in Felix's speech, and they watched with rapt attention as he paced around the center of the venue, relating his experiences in studying ancient runes:

"... And for that reason, every magical discipline is significant." Felix smiled, "They elaborate on our innate ability - magic - from a different perspective, they are slowly but surely improving our understanding of it."

Hundreds of magical devices in the sky in the shape of Billywig insects scanned down the scene of the venue and recorded the excited faces. The white light and purple mist of a magical camera flashed occasionally in the corner, and at the same time, hundreds of quills quivered with excitement.

In addition to this, Felix's words are also being transmitted to thousands of wizarding families through a magic radio.

Felix held the ends of his wand in his fingers, but the wand is no longer as attractive as it was at the beginning, and the eyes of over two thousand wizards from all over the world in the audience are fixed on his face as they stood slightly on tiptoe from the leap of faith.

"And a new discipline is obviously more valuable, like ancient practical runes. Why do we have to dig it out of the past when it does have so much untapped potential in it, and when it can be combined with so many magical disciplines under the modern magic system, such as modern spells-"

He waved his wand and the 'Flow' Rune combined with the Shield Charm to form a light green, watery magical barrier; the 'Light' Rune combined with the Fire-making spell as a bright, white flame swam around him; more and more Runes appeared in the air, combining with modern spells to form a ripple of colourful magic.

"Or alchemy-"

He gestured at the huge projection screen that stood behind the crowd.

"We know very little about the ancient wizards, and we can only roughly trace their legacy in fragmented handwritten notes and abandoned monuments, a fragmented knowledge not only makes it difficult for us to carry on the legacy of the ancient wizards but also makes us misjudge the era."

"For example, the immense power of ancient wizards came with the extreme diminishment of his other magic abilities. I have found from some old handwritten journals of ancient wizards - back when a master-apprentice system still existed - even if they mastered several powerful ancient magic at a young age, they continued to have more worldly worries than modern wizards. Most of them needed to carry dozens of boxes to move their family during a journey, and the most advanced form of transport they could use on a trip was a flying broom ... or they might even have to clean their own houses and cook their own meals because not everyone knew life magic."

One by one, wizards fell into contemplation, a question constantly being raised with the appearance of Felix Hap: are the ancient runes - and the ancient wizards that represent behind them - really as powerful as the legends make them out to be?

Wizards also have myths or legendary tales. But many people automatically classify them under the same category of stories in the Tales of Beedle the Bard, with few willing to believe that the magical wonders shown in the stories actually happened in reality, breaking mountains, parting seas, destroying the space and the ground with a single spell ...

Some people firmly believe it, some people doubt it, and some people dismiss it. But today Felix provided a new perspective to judge strength and weakness: what is the criterion of power, individual or collective; is it judged by magical power or convenience?

--

#Fiendsjoke, Thanks for all your love and support.

There are 608 chapters on P@treon, if you have some extra pocket money, Support me on P@treon: /Crazy_Cat.

Happy Reading!!!