Chapter 654: The Solution
Chapter 654: The Solution
On the outskirts of Hogsmeade Village, a group of people basked in the silvery moonlight cast by the full moon.
Felix watched the werewolves, holding a piece of parchment and scribbling notes. Among the fourteen, two had already completed their full transformation and lay on the ground, gasping for breath. Despite their werewolf forms, their eyes remained clear, thanks to their consistent intake of Wolfsbane Potion over the past few days.
The other nine werewolves were in the midst of transforming—first, their bodies began to tremble abnormally, then, with agonized howls, every part of their bodies was forcibly stretched and elongated. Their shoulders rose high, tearing through their clothes, and the fat on their black-furred arms disappeared as they transformed. Their hands and feet curled into wolf claws, the sharp nails glinting in the moonlight.
'So, their transformation times vary slightly,' Felix noted on the parchment, watching the werewolves repeatedly open and close their jaws, drooling from the brief loss of control and the pain.
To ordinary people, this saliva was as deadly as poison.
The remaining three who still retained their human forms shrank back, trying to distance themselves from their transformed kin. They looked at Felix Hep, who seemed to be enthusiastically recording everything, and a strange feeling welled up inside them.
The war had far-reaching effects.
In the early stages, many of their kind were approached by Dark Lord's agents, who promised to significantly improve the werewolves' treatment after the war. The promises sounded good, but their credibility was low. The Dark Lord, who despised wizards of Muggle descent and preached blood purity, would hardly treat werewolves, whose blood was considered tainted, any better. Many wizards—many of whom were Purebloods, Death Eaters, or both—referred to them as beasts with disdain.
The only somewhat believable reason came from Fenrir Greyback, who lured them with the promise that, should the Dark Lord win, werewolves could freely attack Muggles and expand their packs. This was the fate the Dark Lord had in store for young wizards of Muggle descent.
However, this only appealed to the fanatical werewolves. As far as they knew, these fanatics had been threatened and bribed by the Ministry of Magic before the war, and those who remained stubborn were now mostly locked away.
At that moment, Felix casually picked one of the werewolves and stood in front of him. The transformed werewolf was significantly taller than Felix, and with a single glance, he could have crushed the human's skull. But when Felix channeled magic into the werewolf's body, the werewolf made an effort to keep his claws away from Hep.
This was purely out of respect for Galleon.
The werewolf, resentfully thinking this, obediently straightened his body. He lazily turned his long jaw to one side, while the others lay on the ground, panting and watching them. This was the effect of the Wolfsbane Potion—it kept the werewolves rational during the full moon, suppressing their wild nature and energy, leaving them exhausted and unable to even take a stroll.
"Don't move", Felix said.
"I'm not moving!" the werewolf growled in frustration.
"Ah, I was talking to the magic inside you—consider it self-talk", Felix explained.
The werewolf grudgingly shifted his gaze back, lowering his head to stare at the top of Felix's head. He felt a strange urge to act, but quickly moved his head away, not wanting to do anything that might cause a misunderstanding. If he really hurt the person in front of him—though even the werewolf found the idea far-fetched—the werewolf community would suffer.
Besides, the werewolf didn't dislike Felix Hep.
Everyone present felt the same way; otherwise, they wouldn't have accepted the invitation. After a few meetings, they realized that the real Hep was somewhat different from their initial fantasies—simply put, there was a sense of disillusionment. "Extend your arms", Felix said. The werewolf grunted and complied, then continued to think to himself.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his spine, as if an invisible hand had reached inside and was trying to pull it out of his body.
The werewolf let out a "huff" of pain, struggling to lower his head and seeing Felix pulling wisps of magic from his body. Though he didn't understand the purpose, he gritted his teeth and endured it until Felix Hep extracted a vague, formless mass of magic from him.
He finally collapsed, his voice hoarse, and asked, "What is this?"
"I'd like to know too", Felix replied.
He levitated the magic in mid-air and approached the other werewolves one by one. During this time, the other three werewolves also began to transform. As the full moon rose high in the sky, fourteen clumps of magic solidified in the air before Felix.
He spread out these clumps of magic, which resembled irregular sheets, densely speckled with light. This form was far more complex than that of a Mandrake. Felix had to be extremely careful not to disrupt the crucial magic structures.
Gradually, even the least perceptive in the field began to realize that, although the magic came from different werewolves, their shapes were largely similar. Ignoring the minor details, one could see a three-dimensional tower-like structure, or more accurately—
"Is that—the spine of a werewolf?" a werewolf asked with difficulty.
Felix paced between the fallen werewolves, lost in thought. His face was bathed in a faint blue light, and he seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps delivering a speech under the moonlight.
"Magic... behaves differently within a wizard's body compared to a magical creature's body."
"Magic within magical creatures often follows a specific path, related to their physical structure, and functions through magical patterns, which are their innate magical abilities... In wizards, magic is free, flexible, and unbound. When werewolf saliva mixes with a wizard's blood, a miraculous transformation occurs, irreversibly turning the wizard into a werewolf. Some say this is an incurable magical poison, known as lycotoxin..."
"In my view, the transformation of a werewolf is an uncontrolled process of a wizard turning into a magical creature. Oh... and it's different from an Animagus transformation, where a wizard can only turn into an ordinary animal. Despite this, they share a common point: the transformation process is not controlled by the wizard."
"The principle... is not important!"
"The Animagus transformation involves highly advanced knowledge of human transfiguration. If a wizard can experience this process multiple times, even without understanding the principle, they can become highly skilled in advanced transfiguration."
"Werewolf transformation, however, does not offer similar benefits."
"Perhaps because... ordinary wizards' bodies are too fragile, regardless of their physical strength. The key is magic. They cannot withstand their 'magical creature' transformation, and thus, not only do they gain no benefits, but they also suffer greatly..."
Under the moonlight, Felix took out the Book of Runic Script, holding it by the spine with one hand and covering it with the other. The pages flipped rapidly, the rustling sound drowning out the night breeze. His slender hand slowly lifted, pulling out a 'spine' composed of Runic Script from the book.
The werewolves gaped in amazement.
Felix gazed at his creation for a moment, then pressed it into his body.
His heart began to beat rapidly. He lifted his head to the moonlight, his body stretching and his fur cascading down—transforming into a werewolf. The group of werewolves on the ground watched in awe.
"You—you—"
"Another form of transformation", the werewolf under the moonlight grinned, but the other werewolves looked at him with reverence. When Felix transformed back and changed into a new set of clothes, he began to adjust the sequence of the spine-like Runic Script.
"To improve efficiency, we need to find the key."
Even so, Felix could only rearrange the sequence and remove some unnecessary Runic Script, but he couldn't reduce the overall complexity of the structure. So, in theory, Felix had gained an incredibly complex ancient magic—werewolf transformation.
It's important to note: Felix transforming into a magical creature and converting magical creatures' innate magic into ancient magic are two different things. The former is a result of Felix advancing the field of Ancient Runes to an unprecedented level, gaining the ability to transform into a magical creature after his own 'magical creature' transformation. Similar to the four founders of Hogwarts, Dumbledore... If we were to be more specific, Felix considers himself 'Runic Script-ized.'
He can convert parts of his body between flesh and Runic Script.
This is why Felix can transform into a magical creature. He believes Dumbledore can do the same, but not through 'Runic Script-ization,' rather through transfiguration. As for Rowena Ravenclaw, who personally told him the term 'magical creature,' Felix has his doubts. He thinks Rowena Ravenclaw describes more of a state of being, as her research focus was not in this area.
Taking the thunderbird as an example:
Felix could transform into a thunderbird with ease, a process fundamentally different from Transfiguration, but he couldn't teach others how to do it—there was no shortcut other than a deep study of Ancient Runes.
However, he could convert the thunderbird's innate magical abilities, such as generating storms, into Ancient Magic and then teach others, who could learn it without issue.
Transforming into a thunderbird and controlling a storm were fundamentally different. The former involved a fundamental change in a wizard's essence, while the latter only required learning a simple Ancient Magic spell.
...
The weather at the end of February was still cold, but it didn't bother the werewolves. They lay on the ground, watching Felix Hep work diligently under the moonlight, whispering to each other.
"What's he doing?"
"Not sure, but it looks complicated!"
"What are you going to do with the money?"
"I haven't decided yet. I calculated that it's enough to buy two years' worth of discounted Wolfsbane Potion."
"I heard that the ‘Future World’ company hired a batch of non-human employees, including werewolves!"
"Are you going to try?"
"It might be too late..."
"Who knows, the newspaper was still advertising it recently."
"I thought they were hiring trolls?"
"Literate trolls?"
"Hem—" Felix lifted his head from the thick morning dew, cleared his throat, and said, "Almost done, let's give it a try."
"Try what?" one of the werewolves on the ground asked.
"See if I can turn you back into humans." Felix smiled, opened the Book of Runic Scripts, and colorful Runic Symbols fluttered out like butterflies, forming shapes in the air. Felix waved his hand, and the Runic Script sequence turned into a ball of magic, which he threw at one of the werewolves.
Felix watched expectantly.
After a moment, the werewolf's body transformed back into human form. Felix handed him a piece of clothing to put on, not wanting to risk being seen by early-rising villagers.
The wizard, still in shock, stopped his excited movements and stared at his hands in disbelief.
"I... I'm back?" He looked up in amazement. The sky was just beginning to lighten, but a full moon still hung in the air. He glanced at the other werewolves lying on the ground, looking as if he might faint.
"Mr. Hep, does this mean I'm no longer a werewolf?"
The others on the ground fell silent, holding their breath as they waited for Felix's answer.
Felix shook his head.
"This is the effect of the magic. If..." He hesitated, then shook his head again. "No, I'm not a healer, and I can't fully cure it—"
"But I'm completely back!" the wizard shouted.
"I took a shortcut. I approached the problem from the perspective of Ancient Runes." Felix raised his hand to stop the wizard from speaking and continued, "Through research—not my own—werewolf saliva is highly toxic, at least to Muggles, and for wizards, being bitten by a werewolf results in irreversible werewolf transformation."
"Werewolf transformation, in essence, means the wolf toxin alters part of a wizard's body structure. You can think of it as adding a casting organ, though it's a simplification. The actual process is much more complex..."
"This casting organ is influenced by the phases of the moon, and during a full moon, it absorbs magic from the wizard's body, forcing a complex werewolf transformation."
"We have an extra casting organ?" the werewolf asked, bewildered. "Can it be removed?"
"No", Felix sighed. "At least not yet. I mentioned the casting organ as a metaphor. In reality, your bodies have been thoroughly altered by the wolf toxin—your blood, saliva, organs, bones... This isn't my area of expertise."
"So what did you do to me?"
"Reversed the transformation process. If you consider werewolf transformation a curse, my approach was to find a counter-curse, though it's only temporary."
"Can we learn it?" the werewolf asked eagerly.
"I can share it, but it's extremely difficult to learn. The magic uses thousands of Ancient Runes..." Felix said. "For the next week, I'll try to perfect it, and I'll need your cooperation."
On the way back to the castle, Felix was deep in thought. The most significant discovery of the night was the magical blueprint of a werewolf from a magical perspective. Based on this, he had two vague ideas in mind.
Apart from the Ancient Magic technique he had demonstrated to reverse a werewolf transformation—
He could also try advanced human transfiguration. Regular human transfiguration only changes appearance and physique (though this is already an advanced topic), but Felix’s idea was to take it a step further and alter the magical structure within the body as well.
This approach would be similar to an Animagus transformation, except the form would remain human.
Wizards had attempted this before, but the internal structure of the werewolf didn’t change after the transformation, so it had no effect. Now, with the werewolf’s magical blueprint that Felix had discovered, the situation might be different.
As he walked, a thought suddenly crossed Felix’s mind: it seemed somewhat like the blood magic that Salazar Slytherin had studied.
He pondered for a while, a smile on his face. Had he reached this level already, where he could use Ancient Runes to analyze other wizards’ magical paths? The feeling was truly wonderful...
The first two methods were only temporary solutions.
The first method—Ancient Magic to reverse a werewolf transformation—essentially restored a werewolf wizard to human form and allowed them to safely pass the full moon while in human form. In a sense, it was a substitute for the Wolfsbane Potion, with the advantage of maintaining human form. The downside was that it was very difficult to learn.
Without Felix’s help, Lupin would have struggled to achieve it. But once learned, the wizard could say goodbye to the Wolfsbane Potion, which seemed to reinforce the magical community’s belief that potions and spells were interchangeable.
The second method—human transfiguration involving changes to the internal structure—was equally challenging. Felix believed that only Dumbledore could manage it, but with the werewolf’s magical blueprint he provided, the difficulty might significantly decrease.
The benefit was that the wizard would be in a pure human state during the transformation.
As for the last idea—Felix furrowed his brow—was to completely destroy the magical structure altered by the wolf’s bite, a permanent solution. At that point, the werewolf would no longer be a werewolf. However, this method involved the essence of magic, and a single mistake could render the wizard a Squib, unable to perform magic at all.
Dumbledore’s caution regarding magic still echoed in his ears.
Actually, there was a fourth approach, Felix thought. He could publish the werewolf’s magical blueprint, and perhaps Potion Masters like Snape, Belby, or Slughorn could propose a solution from a potion perspective.
Felix planned to discuss this with Lupin when the time came. March 10th was his birthday, after all.
The next morning.
Harry knocked on the door of the Dark Arts professor’s office.
He had come to escape the endless questions from Ron and Hermione. He had already been forced to reveal the details of Dumbledore’s family dinner that he had seen in the Pensieve, but he really didn’t want to talk about what happened afterward, so he found an excuse to get some fresh air.
To his surprise, Professor Bashir welcomed him warmly, which left Harry feeling a bit overwhelmed.
"Please, have a seat, Harry", Grindelwald said warmly, placing a book to the side.
"Professor Bashir, are you studying Ancient Runes?" Harry asked, surprised.
"Why, do you think someone my age shouldn’t learn new things?" Grindelwald replied, his eyes flicking to Harry’s hand. "You made quite a name for yourself yesterday, Harry."
"Oh, um—yes, I suppose so", Harry mumbled.
"I hear you want to become an Auror. That’s a fine ambition", Grindelwald said softly. "I happen to know a few spells that might be useful to you. They’re quite powerful, but they’re not dark magic", he added, noticing Harry’s expression.
Harry muttered his thanks. He had indeed been worried that Professor Bashir might teach him dark magic, given the professor’s past admission of following the Dark Wizard Grindelwald.
Only then did Grindelwald seem to casually mention something.
"Yesterday, I saw you wearing a black gemstone ring. Why aren’t you wearing it today?"
(End of Chapter)
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