A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 216 The Reason for the Prison Break?

"You've thought things through quite thoroughly. What surprises me most is that you've been patient enough to revise it seven times," Felix praised.

The twins said with grins, "It's all because of you! You always give us a ton of suggestions for improvement, making us feel like it's not good enough."

Felix looked at them. "What are you planning to do?"

Fred said, "We're currently only advertising in schools, and quite a few people have expressed interest in buying."

Felix considered for a moment, "The production process must take a lot of time, right? And your OWL exams..."

Fred pleaded, "Professor, please don't make things difficult for us. We still have plenty of time."

George said, "Yes, we've already given up on electives, and some required courses are completely unnecessary—"

"Astronomy Lesson—"

"History of Magic—"

Felix looked at them reproachfully.

"You can't force us. After all, we haven't missed a single thing we were supposed to learn, and Professor Flitwick even praised us," Fred said, defending himself and George.

Felix was at a loss with them, and besides, deep down he didn't think that restricting the twins was a good option. Providing them with a wider stage and watching them dance was perhaps what he should do.

He said thoughtfully, "You guys should tone it down this year. After the exams, I mean after the OWLs exams, I'll show you some things."

As Harry and the others stared in disbelief, the twins winked at them and strode away.

As he was leaving, Fred patted Ron on the shoulder. "Silly Ronnie, you can write this down on the parchment: The test is on the alchemical item, the Couple's Mirror. The suggested retail price is three Galleons, and it may increase at any time."

Ron turned to Harry. "Did you hear that?"

"Of course," Harry was still thinking about the couple's mirror when he saw the girl who made his heart flutter.

Qiu Zhang and her friends appeared. They looked around and saw that there were already seven or eight students sitting in a corner of the field, each holding a magic puppet and inscribing magic runes.

Her friend pointed at Cedric's figure and muttered something.

Professor Hyp was surrounded by three or five students. He was staring at a cross-shaped amulet and shaking his head, while the student next to him looked disappointed.

Cho Chang approached Hermione and said, "Hello? We're here to take the test."

Hermione had just finished filling out a form. She wiped the sweat from her brow. "Oh, please wait a moment." She pulled out a new piece of parchment and said fluently, "Name, year, and house."

"Cho Chang, fourth year, Ravenclaw."

"Mariette Eckmore, fourth year, Ravenclaw."

Hermione wrote it down on the parchment, "The assessment is... Harry?"

Harry moved closer without realizing it, and stammered, "I came to see if I could help, Hermione..."

"I'm fine," Hermione said, oblivious to his expression. She looked at the two people opposite her, who quickly replied, "Thesis, we both have theses."

"Put your papers on that big table, there are clips and quills next to it. The results will be announced in about a week or two."

Harry waited until she finished speaking, then said to Cho Chang and her friends, "I'll take you there."

Qiu Zhang glanced at him and nodded. The three of them walked away together.

Hermione vaguely heard Harry stammering as he introduced himself...

Around eleven o'clock, a group of third-year Slytherin students arrived—Draco Malfoy, Daphne Greengrass, Pansy Parkinson, and Crabbe and Goyle.

Ron walked over excitedly, saying provocatively, "I didn't expect you guys to actually come, Malfoy. You must be eager to show us your amazing ancient magic, right? After all, you're Malfoy!"

Draco gave him a disdainful look. "Weasley, wherever Potter is, you're there too. Are you his lackey?"

Ron looked surprised, staring at Crabbe and Goyle. "Hey, buddy, is that how Malfoy sees you guys? Doesn't he have any friends?"

Pansy said impatiently, "Hurry up and register us. I'm not interested in listening to your clown talk."

Ron blushed. "Sorry, you might have to write it yourselves." He pushed a stack of parchment into Malfoy's arms.

Meanwhile, Daphne strolled over to Hermione's side. "Hey, little Gryffindor girl!"

Hermione glared at her. "It's you?" Her voice sharpened, becoming aggressive. "I haven't even had a chance to ask you if you like your magical puppets?"

During their first Ancient Runes class at the start of the school year, the two were vying for the same magical puppet, but Hermione beat them to it in the end.

Daphne said haughtily, "I'm sorry, I found an upperclassman and switched places with her."

Hermione remained silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "My magical puppets are even more powerful!"

"nonsense!"

"Want to give it a try?"

"Fine, you think I'm afraid of you!"

……

Felix wiped the sweat from his brow. He had spent the morning reviewing dozens of bizarre alchemical creations, and apart from a few that were acceptable, the rest left him speechless.

For example, a small bottle emitting a strong, pungent odor; the student confidently claimed it contained a magical protective spell that could drive away rabid werewolves.

But after confirming several times that it was just coated with a layer of pus from the tuber of the Babo plant, he realized that the thing was still quite dangerous and confiscated it.

Cedric finally finished his work, and Felix, after seeing his results, couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "You've mastered fifty-two runes! Excellent! Did you teach yourself all of that?"

Cedric said, "I asked some older students for advice, and they gave me some pointers."

……

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Felix watched the last student leave. He said to Harry and Ron, "Thank you for your hard work." The two said goodbye wearily and left, needing to go back and catch up on their sleep.

Hermione, who was the spellcasting assistant, stayed behind. The two looked at hundreds of papers, and Felix sighed, "What a huge workload! We'll have to work overtime tonight."

"Let's categorize these papers first, just like grading the Duel class assignments. I'll be responsible for underlining and finding mistakes, and you'll be responsible for marking them."

Hermione nodded.

Felix suddenly looked at her. "You look great. Are you free from the time-tamper's influence?"

Hermione said, "I spoke with Percy, and he offered a lot of helpful advice."

She counted on her fingers, "I need to record the time of my actual experiences, eat something every four hours, and rest for at least half an hour; the point in time I return to doesn't need to be so precise, I can go a little earlier to leave time to react; he also recommended a few abandoned classrooms that he used to use. There are also some obscure potions from Mrs. Pomfrey that can relieve fatigue and improve sleep quality..."

"Sounds good," Felix said.

"Yes, it took him three whole years. He's very experienced. Percy told me he kept this a secret all along, not even his girlfriend knew."

The two categorized the papers by grade level and then began grading them. The content was very familiar to them; the main reference book for the papers was Felix's own book, "Exploration of Ancient Runes," and he had read the other reference books many times as well.

Hermione was familiar with it, because the reference list for the paper was the same one she had read last year—Professor Hyp had simply copied the questions that had tested her last year.

Felix quickly skimmed over the familiar content, focusing instead on capturing the brilliant insights the young wizards themselves had gained.

Time passed slowly, but classroom number seven remained as bright as day.

"It's almost time. Let's continue tomorrow."

"Professor, shall I come tomorrow morning?"

"No, I have something to do tomorrow morning; I need to go to San Mongol."

"That magical hospital?" Hermione looked at him nervously. The professor was sick? Even Madam Pomfrey couldn't cure him?

"I'm going to visit two friends," Felix said briefly.

Hermione nodded, then suddenly remembered her earlier question, "Professor, do you know how Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban?"

Felix thought for a moment, "I don't know either. He comes from the ancient Black family and was once a Death Eater. He may have mastered some very secret magic, and perhaps he used it."

"But why did he wait more than a decade to escape?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

This question silenced Felix: "Yes, why did it take him more than a decade to escape? Did he only find an opportunity now, or was there a compelling reason to risk breaking out of prison?"

(End of this chapter)