https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-276-The-Stage-of-Fame-and-Fortune/13460557/
Chapter 275: Confiscated Items
Chapter 275: Confiscated Items
Felix descended the spiral staircase, hands empty as usual. Unlike other professors who often carried books and parchment, he never did.
As he passed the caretaker's office on the ground floor, he heard Lupin's voice.
"… I'm sorry to trouble you, but if you find it, please let me know."
Lupin's thin figure emerged from the office, brushing past Felix. "Hello, Professor Hup", he said, pausing and smiling.
"Hello, Professor Lupin, you look well", Felix replied.
After Lupin left, Felix knocked on Filch's office door. "Mr. Filch, are you there?" The door creaked open, and Filch's face emerged from the shadows, his goldfish eyes fixed on Felix.
"It's Professor Hup. I thought…" He muttered, stepping aside to let Felix in. The room was quite small, adjacent to the castle's entrance hall.
There were no windows, and even during the day, it was dim and cramped. The only light came from a greenish oil lamp hanging from the ceiling. Wooden filing cabinets lined the walls, some of them stuffed to the brim with yellowed parchment peeping out from the cracks.
There were a few chairs, but Felix had no intention of sitting down. He discreetly cast an Air Freshening Charm on himself, finally ridding himself of the pervasive fishy smell.
Felix locked eyes with a skeletal cat on the desk. It had large, bulging, bright eyes.
"She seems quite intelligent", Felix remarked.
Filch was pleased by the use of "she", his chin trembling as he said, "You won't find a smarter cat anywhere. I'd say she's more like a person, even better… at least she doesn't break school rules and helps out."
Felix listened patiently as Filch recounted how Mrs. Norris patrolled the corridors alone, until Filch was out of breath. Then Felix interjected, "But she looks undernourished."
Filch's voice was hoarse, as if no one had ever asked about this before. He stammered, "She's picky about her food. I've tried to persuade her, but she only eats the fried fish I make…"
"I have some Nutrient Elixir here. The formula is quite ingenious and has no harmful side effects", Felix said, his right hand brushing over the ring on his left. A square wooden box appeared in his hand.
He opened the box and glanced inside, somewhat regretfully saying, "There's only half left…"
Filch hesitated, "Lorries might not like it—" He took a small glass bottle from the box, uncorked it, and a peculiar aroma spread through the room, dispelling the fishy smell.
Mrs. Norris immediately lifted her head, her eyes fixed on the bottle, a look of longing in them.
But she didn't move, instead looking up at Filch. "It's fine, Lorries, drink it", Filch said.
The cat let out a spine-chilling meow, leaped off the table, and hurried to her owner. She extended her tongue and lapped up the bright red liquid in the bottle, finishing the last drop before stretching contentedly and purring.
Filch's eyes gleamed with a strange light. "Lorries has never done this before. She ignores the supplements from pet stores."
Felix smiled and explained, "The formula comes from a Potion Master who received the Order of Merlin, Second Class. It's a legacy of Professor Burbage. Although it was just a casual creation, its effectiveness far surpasses anything on the market."
"What about the formula—"
"I can give it to you. The preparation is simple and doesn't even require a wand, though you might need some dragon blood."
"That's no problem", Filch said quickly.
"Do you have any parchment here?"
"Yes—” Filch nimbly opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of blank parchment. Felix flicked his fingers, and a sheet of parchment floated over to him. As he focused, a series of fluid letters appeared on the paper.
Throughout this process, Filch kept his eyes fixed on the parchment floating in the air, his knobby hands twisting together. Felix asked casually, “By the way, I just saw Professor Lupin.”
“Yeah,” Filch replied absentmindedly.
“He came over—”
“To reclaim confiscated items,” Filch said, still staring at the parchment. “Professor Lupin, don’t blame me for saying this... but he’s not exactly a good person.”
“Why do you say that?”
Filch snapped back to reality. He glanced warily at the door and lowered his voice. “He was always up to no good in school, always breaking the rules... not as much as his two friends, but I know him well. He’s the one who comes up with the bad ideas.”
He looked at Felix and flattered him, “Not like you, you were a decent person in school—”
Felix chuckled, “I caused my fair share of trouble too.”
Filch slyly replied, “It’s different—sir, it’s different. You never caused trouble for others unless they provoked you first.” He pointed to a file cabinet by the wall. “There’s a drawer in there dedicated to them—Lupin and his interesting friends. If Hogwarts hadn’t abolished corporal punishment...”
He grumbled discontentedly, “Mr. Pringle had it easy, unlike me. Oh, Mr. Pringle was the former caretaker, and he left behind many tools, which I still keep.”
Felix looked at the carefully polished chains hanging on the wall and shook his head. It was no wonder young wizards despised Filch. He had known for a long time that Filch enjoyed corporal punishment, and even though physical punishment had been abolished, mental punishment still existed.
And Filch was trying his best to innovate and perfect this art.
“Mr. Filch, you said Professor Lupin came to reclaim his items—”
“Yes, over a decade ago, he and his friends were wandering around. I searched them and found a suspicious, multi-layered piece of parchment. I suspected it contained some secret, so I confiscated it.”
Filch’s face twitched. “You don’t know how wicked they were. Even after their parchment was confiscated, they acted like they didn’t care.” He growled, “They probably thought I couldn’t figure out the secret and would just throw it away, so they could come back and retrieve it. But I didn’t—I kept it and locked it in the drawer marked ‘Highly Dangerous.’”
“What about now? Did you return the parchment to Professor Lupin?” Felix asked curiously.
“...Lost it,” Filch deflated. “I don’t remember when I lost it. Maybe they took it themselves.”
“But you said Professor Lupin came to reclaim it...”
“Who knows? Maybe his friends didn’t tell him, or perhaps other young wizards stole it from me over the years.” Filch looked regretful.
The floating parchment fell to the floor, and Felix handed the formula to Filch. “Please keep it safe.”
“Thank you, thank you—”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Filch. I got what I wanted.”
Filch looked at him in surprise, and Felix smiled. “See, Mrs. Norris is quite pleased, isn’t she?” He pointed to the cat at his feet, which was lazily rubbing against his trouser leg.
(End of Chapter)
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