A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 142 A Small Gathering

Three brooms.

Mrs. Rosmerta brought two glasses of mead, "the finest oak-ripened mead, low in alcohol; you'll enjoy it."

"Thank you, ma'am."

She smiled and nodded, then turned to greet the other guests.

Belby looked around the tavern and saw that besides a few young wizards, there were seven or eight adult wizards talking quietly.

"I feel like business here is much better than at Pighead Bar," he said.

"The Pighead Bar serves strong liquor, so young wizards don't go there much," Felix said. "Besides, the owner's appeal and the interior ambiance are worlds apart."

Belby glanced at the graceful Mrs. Rosmerta, then thought of the wrinkles on the Pighead Bar owner's face and his grime-covered glasses, especially the filthy, decaying atmosphere of the bar...

"Okay, you're right. If it were me, I wouldn't go without a valid reason."

Felix lowered his head and took a sip of mead. The taste was excellent. The sweetness of honey and the fragrance of oak lingered between his lips and teeth. He could hardly taste the alcohol. But as the liquid slid down his throat, he could clearly feel a wave of warmth rising up in his heart, making his whole body feel warm.

"How's it feeling to be back in school, Damocles? It's been about a month, hasn't it?"

"It's very relaxing, I feel younger again," Belby said with a laugh. "However, sometimes I really want to crack open some students' little brains and see if they're filled with pus from barbo tubers?"

Felix looked at him silently. As expected of you, Potions Master, your metaphor is so fresh and unconventional.

Babo tuber is an extremely ugly plant, and its sap is no less so—a viscous, yellowish-green liquid with a pungent petroleum smell.

However, one cannot blame him for being harsh. The challenge that Belby faced from a mediocre student surpassed Felix in every aspect—because Defense Against the Dark Arts was a compulsory course that every young wizard had to take before the sixth grade.

It is well known that the teaching quality of this course has always been worrying.

Felix said, "There are always some good students, aren't there?"

"That's not wrong," Belby reflected on himself. "I also lectured a bit too fast, you know, to make up for previous deficiencies. Take the second-year students, for example; they haven't even seen many low-danger magical creatures, let alone how to deal with minor curses."

"Is this the potion you brewed?"

"That's right. I compiled a list of the minor curses they knew and made a special section to teach them how to deal with these spells."

"That sounds great, Damocles. You have a real talent for teaching."

"No, Felix, your 'answer parchment' has been a great help to me."

Felix looked at him, puzzled.

"I turned the information I found into test questions, put them on answer sheets of parchment, and made sure they completed them after class as part of their homework," Belby explained.

Is this... an online assignment?

The full-subject version of the answer sheet has been available for some time now, and each professor has received a dragon-skin scroll that allows them to modify and add questions for the corresponding subject—Felix has granted this access.

However, most professors clearly place more emphasis on fifth and seventh graders, as they have included all the questions from recent OWLs and NEWTs exams. For other grades, they may only provide key areas and corresponding reference chapters.

It seems that no one has yet realized this use of parchment...

Felix looked at him, and Belby said somewhat embarrassedly, "Although I only plan to teach for half a year, I hope to achieve something. To be honest, I don't want the young wizards to tell the new professor how terrible I am next school year."

"Don't worry, there shouldn't be a better Defense Against the Dark Arts professor than you in the last ten years," Felix said with great confidence. He had encountered most of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professors in the last ten years during his school days, and the few remaining ones, as far as he knew, had rather mediocre reputations.

Not to mention in the last two years, a dark wizard and a fraudster.

At the end of the gathering, Belby talked about her latest teaching plan: "In addition to the Lesser Curses series, I also want to do a series on the creatures of the Forbidden Forest, which also contains many dangerous magical creatures."

He also formally invited Felix to explore the Forbidden Forest together.

Seeing his somewhat hesitant tone, Felix understood that he was afraid of being affected by the curse and wanted to find a partner so that they could take care of each other when they encountered danger and not be left alone due to an accident.

For example, what if you encounter a Trojanus?

Felix agreed after a moment's thought. He also planned to explore the Forbidden Forest thoroughly and collect some magical materials along the way.

Every time he saw the snake-tooth carving knife, he felt it was mocking him.

Felix was even considering turning the unicorn dagger Hagrid gave him into a rune engraving knife.

Upon returning to school, the two parted ways.

On his way back to his office, Felix saw several young wizards whose expressions showed obvious awe and gratitude, which puzzled Felix.

Has the story about Mischievous Ghost spread? Could it be some other outrageous rumor?

All the young wizards he encountered had similar looks in their eyes. Felix couldn't contain his curiosity and called out to one of them, "Fenrir, what's been happening in the castle lately?"

Justin Finley looked at him with admiration. "Professor Hyp, it's about Peeves."

Felix thought to himself, "So that's how it is. Could it be the rumor that I killed Peeves?"

He said gently, "Tell me more."

Justin said somewhat excitedly, "Several Slytherin students said you couldn't stand Peeves' pranks, so you taught him a lesson with magic."

There's nothing wrong with getting this far, Felix thought.

"Please continue."

"...Everyone noticed that Pippi had become strange. He seemed to be imitating the way different students were talking, and he was acting silly."

It's fine here too.

"And then?" He wanted to know at what step the information transmission went wrong.

"Then, Ron's twin brother noticed Peeves' strange behavior, and they conjured up a large fan and fanned Peeves around the castle as if on display."

Felix: "...A very creative idea. Have they gotten into any trouble?"

Does attracting a large number of ghosts count?

"ghost?"

"Yes, they were clapping and cheering, especially a short, chubby ghost with big glasses; she was absolutely thrilled," Justin Finley said.

Was it the weeping Myrtle? Felix wondered.

"Where are they now?" He decided to go and check.

"Oh, they were originally in the courtyard—they were preparing to hold a makeshift party, and then Professor McGonagall took them away."

"She looked very unhappy," Justin added.

(End of this chapter)