Chapter 604: The End of Fifth Year
Chapter 604: The End of Fifth Year
The following days were incredibly fulfilling for Felix.
"Is there anything else, Harry?"
"…No."
Felix rubbed his chin, watching Harry’s back, sensing that something was off with his mood.
"Would overusing the Patronus Charm affect one's mood?" he asked Peeves, who had just poked his head out of the wall to spectate. Peeves, trying to retreat, paused awkwardly upon hearing Felix’s question. "I don’t know, sir."
"I thought you might know a bit", Felix shrugged. "While grading the final exams, I saw a student seriously analyzing the similarities and differences between you and the Patronus. Professor Flitwick found it quite amusing..."
Peeves was startled, nearly falling out of the air. He spun around, hugging his legs.
"I have nothing in common with the Patronus, sir! Absolutely nothing—those blasted brats! They must be trying to frame Peeves—!" He stormed back into the solid stone wall, head held high, as if off to confront someone. Felix wasn’t sure if his indignation was genuine or an act.
"Never mind, we have plenty to do, Valen."
Felix walked into the room, closed the door, and found Niffler lounging on the couch, reading a comic book with a small red bird perched on his head.
This was an alchemy item Felix used for alerts, more flexible than the Screaming Charm, triggering under specific conditions. It had notified him when Crabbe and Goyle tried to break into his office, but the bird burned itself into a pile of black, chocolate-like ash after the alert.
Felix made another one.
Valen surprisingly liked it, finding the bird somewhat similar to Fawkes. As a result, a birdcage was added to the office, and the red alchemy bird pretended to be a real one.
"Want to come with me, Valen?" Felix asked, fully dressed.
"Chirp~"
"Alright, remember to take the bird and the Slytherins for a walk. You’ve gained some weight… there are snacks in the cabinet. If you have guests, call me. You know the trick, right? Tap the doorknob three times with your wand…" Felix reiterated, and Valen waved, indicating he understood.
Felix pushed open the bedroom door, stepped through a shimmering film, and entered the depths of Classroom Seven.
He stood at the start of a forked path, as if a complete road had been split in two, with the latter half moved here. Looking back, he could still see Valen playing with the bird on the couch. He closed the door, leaving a faint shadow of it behind, and walked forward.
The path wasn’t long, lined with various defensive and alerting spells. At the end, a mist greeted him. Felix reached out, feeling around in the air as if there were something there, and then—pulled out a lock.
Felix took a glowing key from his pocket, inserted it into the lock, turned it, and the mist dissipated, revealing a two-story building.
Inside was a modern office with white, seamless walls and a polished floor. There were no visible lighting fixtures, yet the room was well-lit. In the center, floating about three feet above the ground, was a massive ouroboros, head and tail connected, slowly rotating.
"Let me think about today’s work. The first step is—"
Felix jiggled his emerald ring, and a parchment appeared, roughly divided into several categories, with large blank spaces indicating more content to come.
"First, a quality cup of Ghost Coffee."
A cup materialized in the air.
"Perfect", Felix took a sip. "Next—mood testing." He looked up and lightly touched one of the ouroboros’s scales with his index finger. The dark green, opaque scales instantly turned transparent silver, revealing what was inside.
Voldemort’s body floated in the air, his limbs and head hanging limply. A dark green, glowing snake tail was embedded in his chest, as if he had been pierced through. Dozens of thin magic conduits connected to his body, sealing his magic layer by layer.
An outsider would undoubtedly think a dark wizard was lurking here.
Felix’s eyes gleamed with a peculiar light. He seemed to be talking to himself, mumbling, "I wonder if you ever thought you’d come to this, Tom, but I believe you can understand, can’t you? After all, this is the perfect embodiment of your philosophy—"
"Magic is power."
Felix extended his hand, and a trail of green smoke emerged from a corner of the modern room, converging into a green glass orb. Felix held it, his fingers passing through the silver, transparent ouroboros, and gently flicked it. The green orb merged into Voldemort’s body.
"Some get lost in their dreams, unwilling to wake, while others are crushed by great failures, hiding from the world. Which will you be?"
At that moment, a knock came from the door.
"Professor Hup?" Hermione’s voice said, and the door opened. "Oh, Professor, I was wondering if you needed help grading exams—"
Hermione blinked, looking down to see a fuzzy Niffler yawning.
"Valen?"
Hermione, a bit embarrassed, squatted down and asked Valen, "Is the Professor here?"
"Chirp!"
Niffler pointed into the room.
Hermione followed and entered, but the office was empty. She felt a bit disappointed. "Can I wait for the Professor here?" Getting an affirmative response, she walked over, sat on the couch, and looked around.
It had been a while since she last visited, but the office hadn't changed much. She noticed the green plant she had brought was still on the small table, thriving. This made her feel good. Then she spotted a gleaming cabinet against the wall. At first, she thought it was glass, but there were multiple reflective spots, which seemed unusual.
Hermione stood up and walked over to the cabinet. She covered her mouth in surprise. Behind the glass door were over a dozen wide-mouthed jars, each containing a swirling mass of silvery mist, like art pieces. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the mist occasionally coalesced into the shape of a stag.
Was this Harry's Patronus?
She stared at the jars for a while, then returned to the sofa, glancing at the stack of partially graded exam papers on the table.
Hermione felt a bit restless. She sat down on the other side and opened the papers.
These were the fourth-year Ancient Runes final exam papers. She hadn't come here to grade them; that was just an excuse. She had other matters to attend to, but—
Since she had nothing better to do, she might as well help out. This could earn her a valuable conversation when the professor returned.
Hermione picked up the papers and began grading them. The material was simple for her, and she intentionally left a few subjective questions for Professor Hup to handle. As she went through the papers, she couldn't help but frown. "How could they get this wrong? It must be carelessness... and another one... and another. Good heavens, who is this person? I need to see their name..."
Valen finished reading the comic and hopped off the sofa to the birdcage. He had stuffed the snakes inside to prevent them from roaming around the Slytherin common room. After a moment of mutual staring, Valen turned his attention back to the cabinet, where he picked up a bottle of dandelion juice, then decided to take another one.
He walked over to Hermione and handed her one of the bottles, snuggling into her lap. They both looked at the exam papers.
"Chirp!" he exclaimed.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, still focused on the papers. Valen reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand, pointing at a spot.
"Uh, that's indeed wrong."
Hermione looked down in surprise, watching Valen drink his juice through a straw, feeling quite smug. Time passed, and Hermione reached out to grab another paper but missed. She had finished grading. She rubbed her sore neck and looked around.
"Professor hasn't returned yet?"
Valen pointed at the bedroom door again. Hermione was confused, so Valen jumped down and ran to the door, standing on tiptoe to reach the handle with his wand.
"Are you going in?"
Hermione walked over, not believing the professor was inside. They had been grading papers all morning, and no one had come out. Unless... unless the professor was sleeping in... The thought made her face go slack.
Surely, she couldn't be right?
Valen knocked three times on the doorknob, and the door swung open. Hermione braced herself, half-expecting to see a professor in bed, wearing a rumpled nightgown with messy hair, but she caught a glimpse of a silvery flash.
She stared at the bedroom door, where a transparent film blocked the way. The view inside was blurry, making it hard to see clearly. She reached out—
"Best not to touch."
A voice said, startling Hermione. She quickly turned to see a blank portrait in the corner. A figure flashed in, blinking with light blue eyes, looking intensely at her.
"Hermione Granger? Can you help me with something?"
"Uh, sure, professor—?"
"Call me Felix. I haven't taught you anything. See the bowl with grapes in the bottom right corner of the canvas? See it? Good. A clumsy fool dirtied it with his grubby hands, and I can't stand it..."
Hermione, wide-eyed and flustered, said, "Oh, Felix? What should I use—"
"Don't use your sleeve! Use your wand, a simple spell. I'll tell you."
After a moment, Felix in the portrait whistled loudly, popping a grape into his mouth, looking content.
"You wouldn't believe the strange people you meet when portraits are hung at St. Mungo's. One guy had a dagger stuck in his head—how he survived, I'll never know. Another was breathing fire from his nose, probably from too much dragon blood. I even saw an old wizard who blew bubbles like a fish, and he had bad breath. The bubbles exploded on the healer's face, and the poor girl cried. Want one?" he offered a grape.
"No, thank you", Hermione replied, feeling a bit queasy.
"Oh, you wouldn't enjoy it anyway", the portrait said, following her words. "Thank goodness I met you. I hate the smell of disinfectant. My original form finds me chatty and tells me to shut up. He even threatened to get someone to paint a muzzle for me. Is that for people? I've only seen it on horses!"
Hermione surreptitiously sized him up, finding the experience of chatting with this loquacious and talkative professor to be quite novel.
"Felix? You mentioned not to touch that thing..."
"Right, you don't have permission. If you touch it, snap! You'll fall into a trap."
Felix's portrait nodded toward the cabinet, and Hermione immediately looked at it warily, fearing she might end up in one of the jars. The Weasley brothers would probably brag about it, but she lacked the courage to try.
When she turned back, she saw Valen poking his head through the transparent magical barrier. Hermione pointed at Valen in surprise, and the portrait said calmly, "Don't worry. This little guy has permission. If something needs to be done, let him handle it. I think he already knows—see, I was right." The portrait added.
Hermione saw a blurry figure approaching, tall with short black hair.
A hand lifted the silvery film, like lifting a curtain. Felix looked at Hermione with surprise, "Hermione Granger?" He nimbly hopped out, and Hermione glimpsed a winding, glowing path.
"There’s… Classroom Seven?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
Felix nodded without further explanation.
He quickly understood Hermione’s intent. "You want to know the outcome of the duel?"
"I haven’t seen any follow-up reports in the newspapers, which is a bit strange, isn’t it? I mean, Voldemort’s downfall is a big deal, and everyone would be eager to read about the victory, but there’s nothing…"
"News always lags behind, Hermione Granger", Felix shook his head. "The Ministry of Magic is handling this. Madam Bones hasn’t revealed anything yet. She’s planning to capture the remaining Death Eaters and Dark Wizards."
"Oh", Hermione realized, pondering for a moment before continuing slowly, "And there’s the prophecy about Harry—"
"Did Harry ask you to inquire about it?" Felix looked at her calmly.
"No, it’s just me—" Hermione stammered.
"Sirius knows about the prophecy. It’s best to let Harry ask him himself", Felix said, shrugging. "The prophecy isn’t complicated, and its implications are clear. I think Sirius is keeping quiet to avoid putting too much pressure on Harry—prophecies aren’t always true, but they can be a heavy burden for the person involved."
Hermione bit her lip and nodded gently.
Her expression then became very conflicted, and she spoke hesitantly, "There’s actually one more thing… Harry seems very down. He told us, well…" She seemed to be choosing her words carefully, "You know Professor Snape was once a Death Eater, like the story says, he turned away from the dark path…"
"…Harry knows."
Felix raised an eyebrow. "Hermione Granger, be more specific."
"Well", Hermione said, "During the last History of Magic exam, Harry’s scar suddenly started hurting, which means he received a message from the Dark Lord. After that, we…" She recounted what had happened that day, "Harry has been acting strange ever since. Ron and I questioned him for two days before he finally told us… Voldemort was after Harry’s family because of a prophecy, and the one who revealed it to him was Snape."
Felix listened with a serious expression, nodding. "Is that all? Just this?"
"That’s all", Hermione said, wondering if it wasn’t enough. When Harry told her, she could fully understand the complexity of his feelings. Felix rubbed his chin, at least they had found a reason for Harry’s recent mood changes.
"As observers, whatever we say seems trivial and can’t truly understand the person’s feelings. So, let them deal with it on their own. As friends, the best we can do is not to touch on this painful memory. Of course, some guidance is necessary, Hermione Granger. You might need some good news. Before the examiners from the Wizarding Examinations Authority left, I took a peek at the fifth and seventh-year Ancient Runes O.W.L. papers."
"If you want to know your Ancient Runes O.W.L. results—"
Hermione nodded quickly, and Felix smiled. "Of course, you all did excellently. All three of you."
Soon, it was time for the Hogwarts students to leave.
Felix stood on the balcony of his office, watching the students dragging their trunks and luggage, excitedly walking out of the castle, ready to enjoy their summer break. "Time flies. I have two months of research ahead. Emotions, souls, memories—what are the mysterious connections between them?"
At the school’s iron gates, Harry’s gaze swept over the winged boars atop the stone pillars, following the stone steps up to the towering castle, as if trying to etch it into his memory.
Hermione’s words didn’t provide much comfort, as they didn’t address the core of the issue.
Harry thought of the tale of the three brothers and the Invisibility Cloak that could evade Death… The cloak was now quietly lying in his trunk, but would it be able to help him this time?
Probably not, he thought.
Because he felt like the youngest brother in the fairy tale, ready to step out from under the Invisibility Cloak and face Death.
Still, he had some extra time, and although Harry hadn’t decided how to use it… Yes, Harry thought, he really needed to consider it. He walked toward the carriage, ready to start his summer break.
…
Meanwhile, in Diagon Alley—
A gaunt old man shuffled into the Swordsmith’s Guild, pausing to rest after every few steps as if he lacked exercise.
"Sir, is there anything we can help you with?" a young witch with a few freckles on her face asked.
"I heard you might be able to help with a Squib’s casting issues. I happen to have this problem", the old man said in a raspy voice, but his blue eyes were unusually bright.
"Of course!" the young witch said enthusiastically. "Please register here. You’re lucky, this technology is already very mature and will soon be announced to the public, at which point it will cost money, and if it’s popular, there might be a queue!"
"I’m not too worried about the cost", the old man grinned, his teeth nearly all gone, "But I am in a hurry… I’m applying for a job, and I’d be in a bind without some skills."
The young witch glanced at the old man, surprised that someone his age was still looking for work, and even more so that he was a Squib. Feeling a twinge of sympathy, she helped him inside.
(End of Chapter)
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