A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 198 Discussion

Felix stared at the golden magic orb; it seemed he had succeeded.

He successfully recreated an ancient spell—the Scaling Charm—which is a remarkable achievement worthy of being written about in great detail. He could even write an autobiography based on it or be featured in the Chocolate Frog card series.

But the question is, is this thing really a scaling spell?

Felix had never seen or heard of such a hollow spherical structure before. As far as he knew, Flitwick was also unaware of it. He and the former professor of ancient runes had worked together to restore the earliest version of the Scaling Charm, which was a distorted plane.

Felix had never suspected anything amiss, because the ancient magic he had learned was also composed of planar patterns made of runes, and he believed that Flitwick was the same.

The two even discussed whether they should try to make the pattern as smooth as possible...

As for tonight, it was by chance that he stripped away the traces of modern magic under special circumstances, and then let it adjust and grow on its own. As a result, it became more and more crooked and distorted, and finally became a ball.

Perhaps his greatest discovery was actually the discovery of a more stable magical rune structure?

Felix stared at the runeball in his hand, his heart itching with anticipation. He desperately wanted to find a test subject to see what it was really like and whether it was indeed a scaling charm. But the only creature standing before him was Hermione. He dared not make a move.

The scabies-covered filaments reminded him of how terrible the consequences could be if something went wrong.

Moreover, even without these problems, he couldn't guarantee what the little witch would become when she touched the golden magic ball—would she grow into a fifty-meter-tall giant, or shrink into a flower fairy the size of a thumb?

It might even unfold in a more bizarre way...

Although he was indeed curious, he managed to suppress the urge well, as there were many creatures in the Forbidden Forest that could satisfy his testing needs.

Professor Flitwick's advice remains valid.

"Professor? May I touch it?" Hermione asked curiously, her eyes practically overflowing with longing.

"I think it won't work," Felix said sternly. Seeing the little witch's disappointed expression, he explained, "I'm not sure about its effects right now, and I'm worried about irreversible consequences."

After a moment's thought, Felix conveyed a dissipated thought to the golden rune sphere. The rune sphere silently melted into a golden liquid, flowing into his body.

This greatly surprised him, and Felix almost immediately took every means to check his physical condition—and found that everything was normal.

So he tentatively activated the magic, and his right hand began to heat up. He stared at his palm, and a light blue halo, like a vortex, appeared.

Felix infused a tiny bit of magic into the vortex, and a massive suction force surged out, instantly turning the office into a mess.

He quickly stopped and decided to wait until he found a more suitable environment before trying again.

But in any case, he had realized that this magic was extraordinary, possibly far beyond his expectations.

Hermione was also startled. She felt as if she had almost been sucked into that light blue vortex, and she was momentarily flustered.

Felix reassured her, "Don't worry, I can handle it perfectly well."

He dispelled the magic and said in a relaxed tone, "In short, something surprisingly unexpected happened tonight. I've stumbled upon a spell, which is a good thing. But we've strayed from the topic; let me now see what you've done."

He waved his wand, bringing back the parchment, quills, and crooked table scattered on the floor to their original positions. Hermione saw three golden, walnut-sized viewing mirrors in them.

She had just seen the same peephole this Tuesday.

"Is this... one of those spyglasses that can be used on specific individuals?"

Felix glanced at it. "That's right, it's on someone's behalf. You might see it again in a few days."

"We'll see each other again in a few days..." Hermione pondered the meaning of those words.

When it comes to targeting specific individuals, all she can think of is...

"Sirius Black?" she asked in surprise.

Felix sighed, feigning surprise. "Alright, it wasn't me who leaked it. Headmaster Dumbledore forbade me from saying anything. You'll pretend you didn't know, deal?"

Hermione smiled and said, "Deal." Then she asked, "Can I tell Harry?"

"Oh no, I don't know how Dumbledore arranged these viewing mirrors," Felix explained.

Perhaps Dumbledore would simply give the spyglass to Harry and tell him to be careful, or perhaps he would secretly hang it in his bedroom, or perhaps he would simply hang three spyglasses at different entrances to Hogwarts...

In short, Felix was only responsible for making the sight glasses; he wasn't responsible for using them, nor did he care how they were used. Dumbledore would arrange everything.

Felix picked up what Hermione had finished on the chestnut paper. "Excellent. It looks like you've really mastered the runes on the beaded pouch."

"Can I learn new things?"

"Of course, you are fully qualified now," Felix said, leaning against the edge of the table and scratching his chin.

"So... Professor, do you have any suggestions?"

"While it's not wrong to continue learning new runes or rune circuits, I think it's best to first teach you to discover the power of individual runes, which will help you better understand the entire rune system—this is also a question I've been thinking about recently."

"The power of a single rune?"

Felix explained, "Yes, remember what I mentioned? When runes were first discovered, it was because they could temporarily store magic and transform it into magical effects."

"This means that a single rune also represents a part of magic. It's not as simple as just writing it on chestnut paper and waiting for someone to connect it into a rune circuit and create a rune artifact."

"If that's the case, then what's the difference between demonic runes and alchemical symbols?"

Hermione thought for a moment and said, "Professor, if I understand correctly, every rune I know represents... a spell?"

She couldn't help but count on her fingers how many runes she had mastered; it added up to almost a hundred. If the assumption was correct, she had unknowingly mastered a hundred spells?

She hasn't even learned a hundred spells yet!

If it weren't for the desire to personally repair the beaded pouch, she could have mastered even more magical runes.

"It's not that exaggerated," Felix chuckled. "In my opinion, a single rune is just a pattern that carries magical power. The so-called magical effects are mostly just simple glowing or heating, without any practical use. But there are exceptions—"

He uttered an obscure sound, and a soft white light emanated from his palm.

"This is a spell you just learned, meaning light. It can temporarily replace the flickering of light, and it will be very useful if you don't have a wand with you."

I originally wanted to release both chapters together, but I don't have enough time, so I'll release the first chapter first.

(End of this chapter)