https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-56-Runic-Script-Knowledge-Competition/13456602/
Chapter 57
Chapter 57 "Harry, Show Us Your Stuff!"
The young wizards were enthusiastically discussing the class. As fifth-year students, they rarely encountered such an engaging lesson—each professor was pushing their potential to the limit.
Of course, in a way, this also made up for the debt they had accumulated over the past four years.
In the corridor, Warren Pardis said to his friend with a hint of frustration, "I could have won, but I just had bad luck."
"You were too aggressive; you got at least ten questions wrong", his friend replied.
The young wizards bustled out of the classroom, Felix rubbing his slightly sore fingers.
The “visual effects” of the knowledge competition were entirely his doing, crafted with one spell after another. From the grid layout to the score changes and the color feedback for correct and incorrect answers, everything was handled by him.
"I made a mistake. Next time, I'll use a ten-point scale."
In the afternoon, Felix conducted two more lessons, one for the sixth-year and one for the seventh-year students, with outstanding results. Even the "struggling students" in Ancient Runes managed to stay alert throughout the class.
This made his ideas clearer.
"In the future, we can incorporate more game-like teaching methods, but we need to prepare thoroughly first." In the evening, in the Great Hall, Felix half-heartedly speared a potato drenched in black sauce. After a long day, he felt somewhat drained.
The cumulative effect of casting so many spells had clearly taken its toll.
Common Room.
Fred and George Weasley, the twins, were controlling their Magical Automatons in a battle. They had completed the second and third sets of practical Runic Scripts, making their duel highly entertaining. Every time Fred's Magical Automaton punched, a ring of electricity would spark, accompanied by a crackling sound. Jordan Lee, who was standing too close, had his hair standing on end.
George was no slouch either. His Magical Automaton, a popular "Fire Man", would unleash a signature "Fireball" that always drew a chorus of admiration.
At that moment, Percy Weasley emerged from the common room, having just completed his patrol. Upon seeing him, Ron turned his head away without a word.
They were still in a cold war.
"Ron, have you made up yet?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"Not until he apologizes to me", Ron said stubbornly.
Harry sighed, not wanting to say much. After all, Ron had taken the fall for the three of them, losing a lot of face.
"Hey, Percy, I heard you got ten points from Professor Hup today?" a Gryffindor asked.
Percy puffed out his chest, making his prefect badge more prominent, "Yes, Professor Hup tried a new teaching method. I have to admit, he's a very wise man."
"You even beat Slytherin!"
Percy modestly replied, "It was just a competition. To be precise, on a ten-point scale, I led by nine points."
The Gryffindors marveled again, Percy living up to his reputation as a top student with twelve O.W.L.s.
"Nine points ahead!" Ron repeated with a sneer.
Harry quickly changed the subject, "Hermione, did you ask Professor Hup about the Basilisk?"
Hermione shook her head, "I rarely see the professor from Monday to Friday." Unless there were papers for her to grade.
"But waiting until the weekend is too late!" Harry said, unwilling to give up. "What if there's another attack in the meantime?"
He pounded the table, startling two passing young wizards, who glanced at Harry fearfully before hurrying away.
"See, they all think I'm the culprit!"
"Harry, should we go see Professor Hup now?" Hermione asked, looking at him cautiously.
Harry glanced at the clock; it was already past nine in the evening. "Tomorrow", he said, slumping in his chair, deflated like a punctured ball.
They were almost certain that the monster in the Chamber was a Basilisk. Hermione's confusion—why the Basilisk's gaze was lethal yet the two attacks only resulted in petrification—led Harry to his own theory: the victims had not looked directly at the Basilisk. Mrs. Norris saw it through a puddle's reflection, and Colin Creevey through his camera lens.
But this theory needed verification, as there were too few cases.
At that moment, Ron asked, "Harry, is Professor Hup's Magical Automaton still in your backpack?"
"It's there", Harry replied listlessly.
He had practiced a few times in private but still lacked the finesse to control the puppet smoothly, barely managing to make it walk normally.
“Why don’t we give it a try?” Ron glanced at Percy in the crowd.
“Here?” Harry was unsure.
Hermione's eyes lit up. She had been eager to try it out ever since the start-of-term Open Class, where she had fallen in love with the design.
The ice-blue hair, the delicate and adorable face—it had struck a chord with her.
“Perhaps… this isn’t the best choice…” Hermione said, though she made no move to stop Harry from pulling the Magical Automaton out of his backpack.
“Hey! What are you guys doing?” Fred draped an arm around George’s shoulder as he approached.
“Oh, just a Magical Automaton,” Ron tried to play it cool.
Fred noticed the puppet in Harry’s hand and was taken aback. “That’s not just any puppet. Even from the outside, you can tell it’s in a league of its own.”
“It’s from Professor Hup,” Ron explained.
Fred picked up the Magical Automaton. “This thing…” He glanced at George. “I can barely sense its magical aura. It’s even more refined than Diggory’s Ghost Doll—let alone the ones we’ve taken apart.”
“You’ve taken apart—”
“Shh!” Fred put a finger to his lips. “Keep it down. It’s a little secret between us and Professor Hup…”
George took the puppet and casually remarked, “Once, we accidentally broke one of our Magical Automatons.”
“It was ‘accidental,’ and we were terrified at the time—” Fred added.
“Worried about losing house points, getting detention—”
“Or being suspended and whipped with wet whips—”
“So we nervously went to apologize—”
“Then what? What punishment did you get?” Ron asked.
“No, Ronnie,” Fred winked with a mischievous grin. “Professor Hup said we had a natural talent for Alchemy and gave each of us ten points. However—”
George sighed. “When we presented him with the broken parts of the second one, he barely managed to avoid deducting points.”
Hermione rolled her eyes.
George examined the incredibly detailed Magical Automaton, occasionally letting out a whistle of admiration. Finally, he handed it back to Harry. “Impressive. What did you do?”
“Um—” Ron started to speak but was quickly silenced by Hermione’s hard stomp on his foot.
The twins exchanged a glance and shrugged.
Fred said, “Want us to demonstrate? This puppet must have a lot of new features, and I bet you haven’t mastered them all yet.”
“Who said we can’t? Harry, show them what you’ve got.”
Harry drew his wand and, with a bit of effort, the Magical Automaton wobbled to its feet.
A few young wizards looked over from a distance.
Harry tried his best to control the Magical Automaton, but all it managed to do was sprinkle a few ice-blue snowflakes.
“Harry, your control isn’t strong enough,” Fred pointed out.
Harry pointed his wand at the Magical Automaton, feeling as if he was touching its core. He focused all his attention, trying to awaken the dormant runic circuit.
His magic connected with a world of ice and snow, the sharp cold making him feel like he had eaten ten ice lollies at once, freezing his senses.
Harry’s face turned blue, and he exhaled a puff of frost.
“Harry, what’s wrong?” Ron jumped up, clearly alarmed, and anyone could see something was off.
But then, in the next second—
“Hiss, hiss, hiss!”
The Magical Automaton suddenly lit up, and pale blue ice crystals began to fall. The temperature around them dropped sharply. The puppet raised its arm, and a series of ice-blue pillars sprang up from the ground, sending waves of cold air outward.
The group stood there, mouths agape.
In front of the palm-sized Magical Automaton, a row of half-human-sized ice pillars extended several meters, completely sealing the common room’s door.
A chill mist spread, and the young wizards in the common room collectively sneezed.
Meanwhile, in his office, Professor Hup sipped his tea, a content smile on his face as he flipped through an Ancient Alchemy book.
Beside him, the Daily Prophet of the day lay open to the front page, which read, “Good and Bad: The Vast Differences Between Two New Professors,” by Rita Skeeter.
(End of Chapter)
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