A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 161 The Magician's Speculation

Felix strolled through the streets of Paris, a few hundred meters ahead lay the south bank of the Seine, lined with elaborately decorated shops, many of them exuding exotic charm.

For example, a paper cutting shop displays various paper decorations at its entrance, ranging from small, colorful animals to large, exquisite, and intricate interior ornaments, creating a dazzling array of items.

The shop owner was a young woman wearing a colorful headdress, who enthusiastically tried to sell to Felix when he entered the shop.

Finally, Felix picked a colorful windmill that he could hold in his hand.

With a week to go before the conference officially began, Felix enjoyed two days of leisurely travel. From the Musée d'Orsay to the Louvre and the world-famous Notre Dame Cathedral, he treated himself as a pure tourist, savoring the local customs and exquisite cuisine of Paris.

After all, in his note to the French Ministry of Magic, he had scheduled to arrive in Paris in three days.

On a glamorous street, crowds thronged, tourists from all over the world gathered, and looking up, they could see the Eiffel Tower, the landmark building of the 7th arrondissement of France.

A young couple each held a child's hand and a half-eaten ice cream cone in their hands.

"Mommy, Mommy, I want flowers, I want flowers!" the little boy said, pointing to a spot not far away.

The couple looked in the direction indicated. About ten meters away, seven or eight children and their families were surrounding a young man who looked very handsome, tall and slender, with a gentle smile on his face.

Her black hair and light blue eyes, like those of a clear sky, gave her a pure and innocent look.

Felix put his left hand behind his back and snapped his fingers lightly with his right hand. Suddenly, a bright yellow tulip appeared in his hand, which he handed to a child in front of him.

"He's a street magician," the child's father said.

"It looks pretty good." The child's mother stared at Felix's hands, but couldn't see anything wrong with them.

The couple walked over with their child, and Felix showed everyone his empty hands, except for an emerald ring on his left hand.

Under the scrutinizing gaze, he clasped his hands together in a prayer-like gesture, from which came a series of chirping sounds.

"Wow!"

The children's mouths gaped wide in disbelief, and even their parents looked on incredulously.

Felix slowly opened his palm; it held a small bird with colorful feathers. The bird nimbly turned its neck, fearlessly surveying its surroundings; its small, black eyes evoked a feeling of tenderness.

The little bird preened its feathers and flew away when a child tried to touch it.

Everyone looked up, their gazes following its flight path until it disappeared into the sky.

Felix bowed, declined some coins and banknotes, and left lightly.

……

At Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Felix wandered through the picturesque campus of this renowned French university, where many of his peers sat leisurely on the lawn, chatting freely.

A pair of young girls curiously sized him up. One of the students, with his purplish-red hair, whispered to the girl next to him, "Look, that guy is very handsome. Which college is he from?"

Her friend said with certainty, "It's definitely not from our school."

"So they might be from other schools, or tourists?"

"You can go ask him."

"Why not?" The purple-haired girl stood up, walked over to Felix, and said in somewhat languid French, "Hello, I'm Amandina Zoe."

Felix turned around and said gently, "Hello, Miss Zoe, you can call me Felix, Felix Heap."

Zoe paused for a moment, then said, "Your eyes are beautiful, and you can call me Armandina."

"Okay, Armandina."

The girl named Armandina was very talkative and cheerful. She acted as a guide, introducing Felix to her university.

"This is the history building...this is the humanities building...oh, I remember now, there's a very famous philosophy professor giving a lecture today!"

Amandina's eyes widened, her expression hesitant, as if she were constantly weighing Felix against the open class.

"May I go take a look?" Felix asked with a smile.

"Of course, I didn't think you'd like philosophy." She breathed a long sigh of relief.

"I don't really know much about it, but it's still nice to listen to it occasionally."

Amandina led Felix into a spacious classroom. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her friend glaring at her angrily. She gave an awkward smile and pulled Felix to sit down.

The open class started soon, and the lights in the large classroom dimmed, with a beam of light shining in the center.

A middle-aged man, dressed in a strict and formal manner, stood on the podium. His gaze was deep, and his tone was unhurried: "What is existence? What is the meaning of human existence?"

"Before you were born, we lived through an era of wavering faith. In Nietzsche's words, we were never more aware that 'God is dead.'"

"We have experienced a shift in thought. War made us think about the meaning of life, starting with Kierkegaard and Dostoevsky, reaching its peak in the era of Sartre and Camus after World War II, until now it has faded away silently."

"Someone invented the term existentialism, but existentialism cannot be considered a systematic philosophical category. There is no discipline called existentialist philosophy; it is at most a label."

"I'd like to share some common thoughts on 'existence' with you all."

"For example, you are the result of your choices."

"For example, time is the only measure of existence."

……

"Many people think that existentialism originated in the cafes on the Left Bank of Paris and is the product of the imagination of a group of decadent people, but this is a completely stereotypical impression. Many people are silently practicing certain admirable existentialist views in their own lives."

"Suffering and hardship lead to despair, despair leads to reflection on the meaning of existence, and reflection brings new life."

Before we knew it, two hours had passed.

A student raised their hand and asked, "Under normal circumstances, we don't think about the 'meaning of existence.' Only in pessimistic and despairing situations do we have this thought. Does this mean that existentialism is actually a pessimistic view?"

"Do we study existentialism to prevent others from studying existentialism?"

The professor said humorously, "That's a very interesting point of view. You can apply to be my graduate student."

"I need to emphasize that existentialism is an optimism supported by reason and logic. Imagine your life is plunged into darkness, war, famine, technological substitution... in short, you can't find the meaning of existence."

"At this point, existentialism will tell you that although your life is full of tragedy, we still have to try our best to live and choose the meaning of our lives for ourselves. You will find that your existence itself adds variables to the world, good and bad, constantly fluctuating."

Many people raised their hands.

The professor pointed at Felix.

Felix stood up. "Professor, my name is Felix Heap. In your lecture, you mentioned a type of view that existence is seeing, perceiving, and experiencing. But how do we perceive and experience things that are distant, or even things that may never appear in reality, like magic in movies?"

His question elicited chuckles from some students—in their view, the interweaving of rational philosophical debate with irrational magical topics was a challenge to classroom order.

One or two students whistled in agreement with Felix's "boldness".

The professor pondered for a moment before replying, "Magic is a product of our imagination, currently existing only in imaginary mediums such as movies and novels. So, does it really exist? Or is it merely a product of thought, something our brains make us believe it exists?"

"What if one day magic really appears in reality?" Felix pressed.

The professor chuckled. "That's an interesting hypothesis. Does magic really exist? Many philosophers have expressed their views, directly or indirectly. But it would be too complicated to explain it all. We can discuss it after class—with that pessimistic student from earlier."

"However, this is a personal opinion: I believe that if magic truly 'exists' in reality, no one would be unaware of it. With the advancements in technology, we are now capable of traveling to every corner of the world. Even the sky and the ocean cannot stop humanity's exploration."

The professor's explanation earned him a round of applause, but he soon discovered he had encountered a persistent student that day—

"What I mean is, please forgive me, but let's make an assumption: there's a small group of magicians who conceal their existence using various magical techniques, but one day, you discover them—"

Felix paused briefly. "What would you do?"

(End of this chapter)