Chapter 530: The Deathly Hallows
Chapter 530: The Deathly Hallows
The next morning, Felix rarely overslept and missed the owl post for the day. He casually picked a seat and, while sipping his porridge, he looked thoughtfully at the students in the Great Hall. It seemed that the number of students subscribing to the newspaper had increased.
Two seats away, a Ravenclaw student quickly flipped through the different sections of the newspaper and sighed with relief.
"Everything is fine."
Her companion was already used to her behavior.
"Why don't we talk about the spell examination?"
"What's there to talk about? Fourth and fifth-year students only need to master the Disarming Charm, Stunning Spell, and Shield Charm. I learned them long ago", the Ravenclaw girl said, flipping her hair, and then she looked at her companion with a mischievous smile, "Oh, I forgot, you're not interested in dueling. You never participated before..."
Her companion rolled her eyes and sighed, "I really envy the first, second, and third-year students. They only need to master Summoning Charms. It's not difficult at all, right?"
"Don't say that. Mom told me that many Apparition accidents involving people are caused by young wizards being too nervous. If children don't undergo proper training, they subconsciously resist the magic, leading to Apparition errors..."
Felix listened to part of the conversation before focusing on his breakfast. He stared at his oatmeal, imagining it as a series of magical runes—no, more accurately, as patterns that could stably carry magic.
The plan to set traps for Voldemort was progressing slowly.
He could already transform into some magical creatures, but this didn't mean everything was going smoothly. In fact, he never intended to fight Voldemort in the form of a magical creature. The difficulty was too great, even though they were indeed quite powerful in certain aspects. Just look at Newt's philosophy; in reality, no magical creature could defeat an organized group of wizards.
Only by converting the magical abilities of various magical creatures into runic script magic and using them with a wizard's body could he achieve a truly formidable effect. Unfortunately, despite the historical connections between the two, it didn't mean that magical creatures had explicit runic scripts or runic circuits in their bodies.
What Felix needed to do was similar to what the first ancient wizards did—create ancient magic by hand. This made the workload quite substantial.
The first step was to transform into a magical creature, using the creature's body to experience its magical abilities, feeling the mysteries of the creature's bloodline, and understanding how his own magic flowed and functioned. He had to repeat this process many times to get a vague pattern—something that looked like a chaotic network of capillaries or a complex devil's net.
This was what ancient wizards observed when dissecting magical creatures.
Next, he had to continuously experiment and practice, extracting individual runic symbols.
The biggest challenge for Felix was that he didn't always find the appropriate runic script to match the magic structure within the magical creatures. In such cases, he had to create the runic script himself, which inevitably led to hundreds of failures.
But the good news was that he was on the right track and was making progress. That was enough.
Despite the process being incredibly tedious, Felix found it fascinating, especially the ideas that emerged during this process. For example, the magical abilities of magical creatures came from their bloodlines and unique physical structures. But what about wizards?
Felix suspected that the 'soul' played a significant role. One piece of evidence was that only wizards could transform into ghosts, while ordinary people and magical creatures could not.
He was captivated by these ideas, even when standing at the lectern, his mind was filled with various creative thoughts. At his level, the theory and practice of magic were becoming increasingly unimaginable, and every step forward was a challenge to the conventional understanding of magic among ordinary wizards.
Whether it was using ancient runes to recreate the magical talents of magical creatures or bringing Memory Magic into the real world based on Lady Rowena Ravenclaw's Memory Magic, it was all the same.
"Take out your runestone engraving knives. Today is a practical lesson. I'll give you a few classes to get used to the new tool, and then you'll find that it's actually more useful than a wand in some aspects, especially when you need to perform precise operations", Felix said calmly. "Today's task is to write the practical runes and runic circuits you've learned over the past two years on a chestnut wood board."
The students moved in order, each stepping up to the podium to pick up a chestnut wood board before returning to their seats to begin practicing.
"A bit too simple, isn't it?" Ron said cheerfully. "We practice this regularly in the Rune Club."
"It is simple for us, but—" Hermione cut the palm-sized chestnut wood board into thin strips, each about the size of a finger. She smoothly wrote a series of Ancient Runes, then looked up with satisfaction, glancing around the classroom at the others.
"Bang!"
Seamus's chestnut wood board suddenly exploded, a burst of fire and black smoke spreading out.
Felix waved his hand, and the thick smoke and fire vanished. "Be careful, Finnigan. You need to focus, not stare at me." He lifted his gaze from a three-dimensional pattern made of Runic Script, his eyes sweeping over the students, many of whom looked guilty and lowered their heads.
"When will we be able to do that?" Harry couldn't help but ask, watching as the Runic Script in Professor's hand shimmered like tiny dust particles in the sunlight.
"Professor told me not to aim too high", Hermione said regretfully. It was clear she had asked a similar question. Then she smiled. "But Professor was impressed with my exploration and attempts in Runic Script."
She pointed to her completed work. Harry and Ron glanced over and were inwardly amazed. Hermione's small piece of chestnut wood was densely covered with tiny Runic Script. If you didn't look closely, it seemed like it had been smeared with ink.
"Hermione... it won't explode, will it?" Harry asked nervously, recognizing the true nature of the thing—a series of dozens of explosive circuits intricately packed into a palm-sized space, connected by a wavy golden line, pulsing with a flickering light.
"Don't worry. I combined the explosive circuits with stabilizing circuits. You need to use a specific frequency of magic to trigger it, and only I know that frequency", Hermione said with a smile, tucking the chestnut wood board into her beaded purse. Harry and Ron swallowed hard, trying to hide their unease.
Hermione seemed to be getting more and more formidable, especially over the summer. Professor visited her frequently, and during their conversations, Hermione would ask questions, delving deeper into her research, which quickly reached a level they couldn't understand, like the term "specific frequency of magic."
One time, Professor said to her, "I've thought about setting up different levels of awards to recognize individuals or groups who make outstanding contributions in the field of Ancient Runes, but the conditions aren't quite ripe yet... If I ever do, would you be willing to contribute your name? The Hermione Granger Award?"
Harry thought Professor was serious, not joking.
In the following time, he began to mimic Hermione, making his runic circuits smaller and smaller. During a break, he looked up to see that the Runic Symbols in Professor's hand had transformed into a winged serpent, almost lifelike.
On the weekend, Felix held the first Rune Club meeting of the school year, and the club members were in high spirits, exchanging recent events.
"Professor Sprout agreed to write me a recommendation letter, but I haven't decided where to go. I mean, Dad wants me to join the Ministry of Magic, but..." Cedric said with a gentle smile.
"Mom sent me a new outfit and a book", Neville said. "I thought I had forgotten something, but it was just a gift."
In a corner, Harry spoke in a low voice to Ron and Hermione, "‘Pumpkin Pie’ has invited us for tea because his brother learned ten new words." Pumpkin Pie was the nickname they had given Hagrid, as Hagrid didn't want others to know he had returned, which would make his absence from class more noticeable.
If Grawp's existence were exposed, things could get very complicated.
"I don't want to cause Dumbledore any trouble", Hagrid wrote in a note. "If parents find out there's an uncontrollable giant in the Forbidden Forest, they'll have unnecessary worries... I think it's best for Grawp to stay hidden until he learns the necessary manners."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione agreed with this, though they had some reservations about the term "unnecessary worries."
"I don't want to go", Ron said, his voice low. "I'm not trying to get out of it, but we have a lot to do. We have Quidditch practice in the afternoon, and Angelina is already unhappy about our absence yesterday. I don't want to be cut from the team. If she decides Hooper's nagging and bossing around isn't so unbearable..."
Harry thought Ron's concerns were not unfounded. At the Quidditch tryouts on Friday, Ron had only placed third. He managed to secure the Keeper position because Angelina felt that both Vicky Frobisher and Jeffrey Hooper had significant flaws: the former was more interested in her 'Charm' club, and the latter complained about trivial matters and wanted to dictate how Angelina should run things.
After careful consideration, Angelina ultimately chose Ron to replace Wood as Keeper.
However, during the first official training session yesterday, they were all absent because they had to serve detention in Professor Snape's office. It was a terrible experience. Snape gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione each a large bucket to process potion ingredients for all seven years of students. The smell of ginger and rat innards still lingered under Harry's fingernails.
"… Not to mention the homework. I wish he'd come back and do something useful. Professor Grubbly-Plank assigned a ton of homework. Why on earth do I need to draw ten sketches of Bowtruckles? I'm not planning to become an artist!" Ron said with a bitter tone.
"This is our O.W.L. year, and Bowtruckles are a key part of the exam", Hermione pointed out, her voice tinged with frustration.
Harry and Ron stared at her.
"Well, I certainly hope he comes back too", Hermione shrugged. "Hi, Luna", she turned to Luna, "How was your holiday?"
"It was great. Dad sealed a business deal", Luna said cheerfully. She enthusiastically invited Hermione, "I'm planning to visit Firenze this afternoon. Do you want to come?"
"Oh, um, sure", Hermione looked around, but Harry and Ron were heading to the Quidditch pitch for practice, and she couldn't find an excuse to refuse. She reluctantly agreed.
"Students", Felix sat in an armchair with a smile. "Welcome back. Before we start the meeting, I have an announcement: Future World Corporation and the Ancient Runes Association have collaborated to launch a monthly magazine called New Interpretations of Runic Script. For now, The Quibbler will handle the business—"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione immediately glanced at Luna, who was twirling her hair with her finger and humming a tune.
"—I will serve as the editor-in-chief temporarily. If you plan to submit articles in the near future, you can directly hand them to Hermione Granger, who will organize them for me. As an additional note, the payment is quite competitive. The submission requirements are here—"
Felix waved his wand, and a stack of flyers flew from the table, landing accurately in everyone's hands.
"Old wand", Hermione muttered under her breath, staring at his wand.
"What did you say?" Harry was particularly sensitive to that term, given that it was the reason they were in detention.
"I recently read The Tales of Beedle the Bard", Hermione said briefly. "Shh, we can talk about it later." Professor Hup's gaze swept over them, and she sat up straight, maintaining a serious expression.
Luna watched her intently.
...
"The Deathly Hallows?" Harry's eyes widened in surprise. They had just left the Rune Club, and Luna had caught up to them.
"Yes", Luna confirmed. "The unbeatable wand, the Resurrection Stone that can bring the dead back to life, and the Invisibility Cloak that can hide one from Death. Together, these three items are the Deathly Hallows, and their owner becomes the master of Death."
"Nonsense", Hermione raised an eyebrow. "It's just a fairy tale. The items in the story are as mythical as the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. They don't exist in reality!"
"But they are real, and countless wizards have been obsessed with them", Luna said calmly. "When Dad was younger, he tried to convince Florent to help him find the Deathly Hallows, but he refused, pretending that his ancestors never owned the Elder Wand."
"Who is Florent? The name sounds familiar", Ron asked.
"He's the owner of Florent's Ice Cream Shop", Luna explained.
"That's impossible", Hermione said firmly. "I'll write to him and ask for clarification."
Harry, however, was reminded of the time he had sat under the brightly colored umbrellas outside Florent's Ice Cream Shop, doing his homework. He had been more focused on the free ice cream than on the fact that the shop owner knew his History of Magic assignments inside and out. Although Harry didn't know the exact age of the shop owner, he guessed that he must have graduated at least thirty or forty years ago. Could someone remember their school lessons so well unless they were a passionate History of Magic enthusiast?
"He won't write back. He's gone missing", Luna said. "Neighbors suspect he might have moved abroad out of fear of the war. Ministry of Magic officials patrol Diagon Alley day and night, but no alarm has been raised. This was mentioned in a small corner of today's newspaper."
(End of Chapter)
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