A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 187 New Semester

The next day, while Felix was having lunch in the Great Hall, he could still hear the young wizards gossiping about various things.

"Harry fought the Dementors and kept them out of the train doors. I could see the overwhelming red light even through two carriages."

"Yes, it's simply unbelievable!"

Ernie McMillan, a Hufflepuff student, peeked out and said, "There's nothing strange about that. You know, Potter defeated Vader when he was a baby. When I first enrolled, I didn't understand. The so-called 'savior' wasn't much different from me—short, looking malnourished, and his grades were so-so..."

He started by listing a bunch of flaws, then paused dramatically for a moment, his gaze fixed on his two companions: "And now look! He's finally exposed!"

"Oh, I see." His two friends looked enlightened.

Felix felt an urge to laugh. He finished the pie in a few bites and arrived at the Ancient Magic Runes classroom early to look through his class schedule for the year.

Among the third-year wizards, no more than ten people actually didn't choose his class, which inexplicably made his elective course a required course.

Professor McGonagall spent a considerable amount of time incorporating ancient runes into the curriculum.

Finally, the ancient magic runes for third graders were scheduled for the last period of class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and half an hour later than the normal end of get out of class.

Soon, the seventh-grade students arrived one after another.

Percy, Penelope, Wood, Jeffrey, and that Ravenclaw girl who preferred holding a little skull during last year's Rune Practice...

Among these people, Felix spotted someone who shouldn't have been there—Marcus Flint.

He graduated this June, but now he's back in the ancient magic script class. There's only one reason: he repeated a year.

Last school year, he failed both of his advanced courses—Fantastic Beasts Protection and Ancient Runes—not even passing one. This was a disgrace to purebloods, and his father pulled some strings with the school board to have him repeat a year.

"Teach, Professor." The tall and burly Marcus saw Felix beckoning to him, his face scrunched up, and he practically shuffled over to him step by step.

Everyone else was watching the spectacle, especially Oliver Wood, whose eyes were shining with excitement. He and Marcus were really at odds; they were the captains of the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams, respectively, and had clashed quite a bit in private.

"You..." Felix looked at Marcus, momentarily speechless. What was he going to say? After all, his spellcasting grades were better than his grades in Magical Creatures Conservation, which at least showed that he put more effort into his own class.

If I hadn't relaxed the course selection requirements last year, would Marcus have been able to graduate smoothly with only one course?

Felix had no idea about this conjecture.

He rummaged around under the podium and pulled out a piece of parchment, handing it to Marcus. "This is the parchment you used for answering questions. I didn't erase your information; all the wrong answers from before are still there."

Marcus took it, muttering something as if he wanted to say thank you, but choked on his saliva.

“Go ahead, I’ll check on you regularly, and if your grades don’t meet the requirements, I’ll stop all your activities—” Felix looked at him calmly, “including Quidditch.”

"Yes, Professor," Marcus said with a worried expression.

Conversely, Wood, as if celebrating an early holiday, whistled loudly.

Felix glanced at him. "You too, Wood. You're treated the same as Flint."

And so a second mask of pain appeared in the classroom.

The students nearby chuckled.

Soon, the class officially began. Felix looked at the students below the stage: "You had a relatively easy time last academic year, and I'm happy to let you experience the mysteries of ancient runes."

The male and female wizards below the stage had serious expressions, and usually, such words were followed by a "but".

"But this is your last year at Hogwarts—Wood, don't look at Flint and laugh—I'll go on, you're facing the final wizarding exams, and I don't need to tell you how important those exams are."

"Next, I will explain our study plan for this academic year in detail..."

During the Q&A session at the end of the course, Penelope Crivat raised her hand and asked, "Professor, will we have any more rune practice this year?"

"Yes, Professor. Last year we smashed the little skeleton, chased away the black crows, defeated the magical golems, and cracked the devil's web trap. We finally collected all four keys. But there are still many places we haven't explored," the Ravenclaw girl next to her said, counting on her fingers.

Slytherin prefect Jeffrey calmly offered his suggestion: "Professor, I think we can decide the candidates for Rune Practice based on their grades."

Wood immediately glared at him, and even Marcus's expression seemed off.

Felix thought for a moment, "Here's what we'll do: I'll open that classroom on weekends for interested students to explore. But don't expect too much from it in class."

The first class ended abruptly, and the students filed out.

"Professor Hyp?" Percy stood in front of Felix.

"What is it, Weasley?"

Percy hesitated for a moment before saying, "Well, my brothers... Fred and George, they're in fifth grade this year."

Felix waited quietly for what would follow.

"Well, this is a crucial year, you know, the OWLs exams... The family hopes they can focus more on their studies and get a couple more certifications."

"Weasley, you can be more direct."

Percy's breath hitched, and he mustered his courage to say, "I... I've heard that you strongly support their mischievous behavior, and it's getting worse... I hope you can talk some sense into them."

Felix looked at him and said softly, "Weasley, perhaps you hope I won't offer them any help?"

Percy said with difficulty, "I've had that idea."

The empty classroom was silent. Felix tapped his fingertips on the table, making a "tap-tap" sound.

After a long pause, Felix looked up. "I can't make decisions for them, Weasley."

"You should know that even without my help, they'll still be focused on this. I can't exactly tie them up, or... cast a confusion spell, can I?"

Percy was pale and his lips were trembling.

"However, I do have a solution," Felix said slowly.

"What is it?"

"You join them."

"You're kidding!" Percy's eyes widened. "I don't even respect their pranks..."

"No, I don't mean you have to follow their research. I mean, understand them. Understand what they're doing, what they're researching, where they spend their time, and why they're so enthusiastic about it. When you know everything about them, you'll always find the right approach..."

Felix looked at him: "I heard you're preparing to apply to the Ministry of Magic? This could be a worthwhile experience; you could write a paper on it."

Percy left, seemingly lost in thought.

On the other side, Harry looked furious, and Hermione chased after him in small steps.

"Harry, I didn't mean to hide it from you."

"Hermione, you already knew my dad knew Professor Lupin, and that Sirius Black! And that Peter Pettigrew! You knew everything, but you didn't tell me a thing. Hey—where is everyone? Hermione?"

As Harry turned around in the corridor, he wanted to say a few more words, but Hermione had magically disappeared.

He and Ron looked at each other in bewilderment. Just then, Hermione arrived from another side road, stuffing a thin gold chain into her chest.

"Hermione, I haven't finished yet—"

Hermione said impatiently, "What did you say? We're going to be late for Transfiguration class, hurry up!"

She hurried forward, but after taking a dozen steps, she realized they were still standing there, frozen in place. With a serious expression, she said, "What are you waiting for?!"

(End of this chapter)