Chapter 89: Ideals
Chapter 89: Ideals
Kingsley Shacklebolt looked at Felix, hesitating. "I know your name, Felix Hep, but she's not an easy person to deal with... That woman is bold and reckless, and even Fudge himself might not be able to sway her."
Felix remained silent.
Dumbledore watched the scene, his bright blue eyes twinkling. Recalling Rita Skeeter's attitude earlier, he had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
The old man leaned down to examine Fudge's condition and said, "The Basilisk is indeed a terrifying creature. Even without its eyes, its venom is extremely rare."
"Indeed", Kingsley Shacklebolt nodded.
"But even the most venomous is nothing compared to the desires in a person's heart. Voldemort is a prime example", Dumbledore said calmly. "As his power grew, so did his ambitions. He broke one boundary after another until he had nothing left to fear."
"Voldemort once justified his actions, claiming that magic is power. Felix, what do you think?"
Felix spoke lightly, "Magic can carry many things—ambition, dreams, strength, power, and awe... but these are just the scenery along the way. You can pause to enjoy them, but ultimately, you must move forward."
"I personally believe—magic is just magic. It doesn't need, nor should it have, any additional attachments", he said, meeting Dumbledore's calm gaze.
Kingsley Shacklebolt was thoroughly confused by their conversation. How did they go from talking about the Basilisk to the Dark Lord? Wasn't he dead already?
"Knock, knock!"
At the open door of the hospital wing, Lucius Malfoy tapped his cane. He raised his head slightly, hiding half his face in shadow. "Dumbledore, I need to speak with you privately."
"Ahh, welcome, Lucius, welcome", Dumbledore stood up cheerfully and walked out with him.
Felix took the opportunity to excuse himself.
As he walked through the corridor of the Great Hall, Felix caught sight of Rita Skeeter. She looked extremely flustered, her makeup smudged.
What happened?
"Frita", Felix stepped out of the shadows, startling her.
"Felix Hep! You, I..." Rita Skeeter stammered.
Something was off...
Felix looked into her eyes, his light blue eyes gleaming.
She was panicked, fierce, and relieved...
What had she done?
He hesitated about probing deeper—there was a risk of being discovered. But Rita Skeeter lowered her head to avoid his gaze. "Sorry, Mr. Heap, I have things to do. I need to finish my article", she said hurriedly and left.
"Rita", Felix called after her, "I hope you don't make too much of a fuss about the Minister's injury."
Rita Skeeter turned her back to him and said slyly, "Mr. Heap, oh, Felix, are you asking me to hide the truth?"
"As long as you don't exaggerate or distort the facts, you know my stance."
After she left, Felix sighed. He needed to focus on his Runic Script research.
However, he still had to resolve the issue with the Dueling Class.
With the new term starting, he needed to set the schedule and curriculum for the Dueling Class.
After lunch in the Great Hall, Felix went to the castle's basement to discuss the class content with Professor Snape.
Snape, dressed in his black robes and expressionless, welcomed him in.
"Please sit, Felix."
Snape lifted the hem of his wizard robes and sat opposite him. He waved his wand, causing several parchments to fly to the table in front of him.
"These are my—" Snape's eyes locked onto Felix's, "insights."
Felix picked up the parchments and began to read, teasing him, "Professor, aren't you going to offer me a cup of tea?"
Snape twitched the corner of his mouth, "You've never drunk anything I've personally handed to you."
Felix pouted and said nothing.
Snape had scared him with Veritaserum during their school days and even gave him a small vial of high-purity Veritaserum for Christmas this year. Felix had no intention of trying anything Snape offered.
He carefully read through the contents of the parchment.
"Professor, do you mean we're going to learn one spell per class?"
Felix looked at Snape with some confusion.
"Felix, most spells related to dueling are quite dangerous. If we don't slow down, they'll give you all sorts of unexpected surprises." Snape deliberately emphasized the word 'surprises.'
Felix thought for a moment. "Two classes every two weeks, so that means two spells a month."
Snape said indifferently, "You can learn over a dozen spells in a school year. As long as you combine them reasonably, they will be enough to protect yourself." He then added with his usual mocking tone, "Some students graduate without even being able to cast a proper Shield Charm."
This was indeed the reality at Hogwarts. With peace lasting so long, young wizards studied spells just to pass exams.
Once the exams were over, many obscure spells were shelved and forgotten.
According to the normal teaching schedule, fourth-year young wizards should have mastered the Shield Charm, but unfortunately, this spell falls under the Defense Against the Dark Arts curriculum, and the state of this course at Hogwarts...
It's hard to describe.
Many young wizards reach their peak in spellcasting during their fifth year, as the Owls Exam requires them to take exams in all core subjects, including Defense Against the Dark Arts, Spellwork, and Transfiguration, which are more practical than theoretical.
After the fifth year, young wizards start choosing advanced classes based on their grades and career plans. Some underperformers might only take one or two subjects.
If they choose courses that are more theory-based, their spellcasting skills will plummet rapidly.
By the time they graduate, they will likely have forgotten most of the spells except for the most commonly used ones.
Felix brushed his left hand over the ring and pulled out a stack of parchment. "Professor, this is my teaching plan for the first spell. You can give me some feedback."
Snape took the parchment and casually flipped through the first two pages, but his expression soon turned serious.
"This is..."
Snape buried himself in reading the parchment, immersing himself in the magical skill tree Felix had constructed. He occasionally took out his wand and waved it in the air.
"Felix, is this how you understand spells?"
Felix replied gently, "It's just my personal understanding from studying spells. There might be some gaps."
Snape's fingers traced the parchment, rapidly reconstructing the magic in his mind.
After a moment, he waved his wand, releasing a bright red light that sent a chair three meters away flying. The poor chair disintegrated in mid-air.
"Professor Snape, what was that?" Felix asked, noting that the spell wasn't too strong, but rather too weak!
It wasn't even as powerful as the Disarming Charm he used to defeat Lockhart.
Snape carefully considered his experience and slowly opened his eyes. "I just blocked my understanding of the Disarming Charm and reconstructed the spell according to your design."
Felix understood.
Snape was not only a master of potions but also deeply studied spells.
He used memory magic to block his understanding of the Disarming Charm and, in a short time, relearned the spell according to Felix's plan.
This wasn't too difficult for Snape, as he had a wealth of magical knowledge and all the relevant theories and techniques. With a bit of practice, he was able to cast the spell again.
If it were another young wizard, they wouldn't have been able to do the same.
Snape's approach further validated the feasibility of Felix's theory, maintaining a stunning 100% success rate.
However, Felix quickly changed the subject and began asking Snape about the techniques of memory magic...
(End of Chapter)
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