A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 138 Story

On the black marble, the white inscriptions are more easily discernible in the dim light; they seem to gleam in the darkness.

Locke Irwin

生于1966年12月12日，卒于1980年5月3日

She cared for 12 colleagues during the flu outbreak, but unfortunately contracted the disease and died.

"Lock Evan..." Felix murmured, recalling the time when he was nine years old, lying on his sickbed, and someone taking care of him during his weakest moment.

Three days before his recovery, Evan disappeared. He begged the dean to tell him what had happened, but all he received was a heavy sigh.

That was the first time he had a profound understanding of death.

Felix stood quietly before the tombstone, like a silent statue, and after about an hour, he disappeared.

At 8 p.m., Felix returned to his office. Earlier, he had used his Guardian to notify his assistant that the weekend's spellbook tutoring was canceled.

After a brief preparation, he knocked on the principal's office door.

The room was dimly lit. Dumbledore looked up from his desk and peered at Felix through his half-moon spectacles. "Felix...please have a seat. It's a bit dark in the office."

He picked up something that looked like a silver lighter, pressed it a few times, and balls of light flew out of it, instantly brightening the office.

"What is this?" Felix asked with interest.

"This little gadget I made myself, I call it a light switcher, that can absorb and release light," Dumbledore said.

Felix sat opposite him, taking out his diary and a brand-new crown.

Dumbledore's gaze immediately fell on the crown. He stood up abruptly, bent down, and examined it closely. "This is... if I'm not mistaken..."

"That's right, the Ravenclaw lady's tiara."

Dumbledore looked at Felix and noticed his choice of the word "lady," which few people would use.

He quickly recalled the fact that his principal's authority had been temporarily borrowed, and the speculation that popped into his mind made him somewhat horrified, but he quickly ruled out this possibility.

His gaze shifted to the diary, but this item was less eye-catching; it looked tattered and had a hole in the middle.

Dumbledore stared at it for a longer time, his fingers constantly tracing the broken edge. "A powerful Fiendfyre curse," he frowned, but didn't rush to comment. For a moment, his deep blue eyes widened. "I see, that's it..."

After a long while, he finally looked away. Dumbledore said softly, "I'm quite surprised. I thought nothing could surprise an old man like me. It seems your story will open my eyes."

Felix began to recount his "experience," starting from a very, very long time ago, "On the night the Chamber of Secrets adventure ended, Draco Malfoy found me. He seemed terrified, but very shrewd, and brought me an evil dark magic item..." He nodded to the diary on the table.

He said he suspected that the diary was related to the opening of the secret room, so he tried to talk to it, but there was no response.

"This is not quite in line with Mr. Malfoy's experience. I intend to observe for a period of time and have set up strict magical protection for it."

Dumbledore crossed his arms and rested them under his chin, listening quietly.

"It wasn't until the dueling class that I discovered the barrier I had set up had been broken. I rushed back and found a house-elf lying unconscious. His name was Dobby. I used a potion on him and unexpectedly learned the truth about the locked room incident," Felix said.

"so--"

"The diary was Voldemort's keepsake. For uncertain reasons, he gave his diary to Lucius Malfoy, who then hid it in the book of Ginny Weasley, the youngest daughter of the Weasleys, through an unexpected conflict in front of Flourish and Blotts."

Dumbledore sighed. "It matches some of my guesses. As far as I know, the Ministry of Magic searched several pure-blood families around that time, ostensibly to investigate dark magic items. Lucius was probably in a hurry and couldn't wait to get rid of this trouble."

"Dobby was incredibly grateful to Potter, and he went so far as to disobey his master's orders to protect Potter in whatever way he could, even though..." Felix smiled slightly, "it may have bothered Potter himself."

"Ah, such pure emotions often surpass our imagination," Dumbledore remarked.

"In short, I realized the danger and prepared to destroy the diary, but conventional magic was completely ineffective, so I used Fiendfire," Felix said frankly, without hiding the fact that he used dark magic.

Dumbledore didn't say much: "Perhaps...this is indeed a good method."

Next, Felix explained that while investigating the locked room, he had inadvertently discovered a mysterious room. "I found its magic very interesting and planned to study it in my spare time."

"On the eighth floor of the castle, on the tapestry where the troll beats Barnabas?" Dumbledore repeated, a thoughtful expression on his face. He smiled and said, "Your words have cleared up a long-standing question for me."

"You know about it too?" Felix asked knowingly. He couldn't very well say that he had used your name to conduct all sorts of strange tests, could he?

"Oh, that was a wonderful experience, but perhaps I underestimated its usefulness at the time..."

Felix didn't press further. He nodded and then brought up the matter of the two ghosts. He and Barrow had known each other since school and had overheard their conversation.

He said somewhat ashamedly, "Initially, I had ulterior motives—I saw the manuscript left by Ms. Ravenclaw in the library and became curious about that era a thousand years ago, so I deliberately befriended Helena."

Dumbledore comforted him, saying, "When I was young, I also had ulterior motives and deliberately befriended many famous wizards. We have nothing to be ashamed of."

"You're always so considerate, Dumbledore," Felix said. "At the time, I also had an idea that, as Barrow's friend, I hoped to ease Helena's resentment towards him."

"But as I got to know her better, I found Helena to be a very wonderful woman. It was a very pleasant conversation, and I really enjoyed the process." Felix's voice lowered.

Next, Felix reduced the amount of description he gave Helena, not wanting to mention her name amidst a pile of lies.

"...I realized that the Room of Requirement might be a secret chamber left by Ravenclaw. I took her inside and saw the memories left by Rowena Ravenclaw from a thousand years ago."

Dumbledore stopped stroking his silver beard and listened intently, not wanting to miss a single word.

"...Lady Rowena Ravenclaw discovered the tiara and said that it contained an evil spirit, and that the magic was said to have originated from a famous dark wizard of ancient Greece—the vile Herpo."

Dumbledore's face was solemn as he uttered a single word: "Hordeal."

"That's right, it's this magic. I thought of the diary and gave it to Madam Ravenclaw. After her confirmation, the diary is also one of the Horcruxes."

"Very perceptive, Felix," Dumbledore said.

"Lady Ravenclaw then used the immense magic of Hogwarts to destroy it, and before her mission was complete, she remade the tiara."

Felix finished telling the story.

(End of this chapter)