A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 225 Ferencze's Advice

Harry sat back down, still thinking he was half asleep or had just experienced an early April Fool's Day prank. But the twins and Wood had already gathered around, and they saw Professor McGonagall's serious face and heard their argument.

Although they couldn't hear everything clearly, the occasional words "Quidditch" and "training" were enough to terrify them.

Harry explained his troubles, and although Wood looked unhappy, he still comforted him, "It's okay, come back before dark and we'll continue training. Anyway, you were originally a free agent, so it won't affect you too much..."

He ended with a nasty joke, "Surely Blake hasn't been locked up for over a decade and his eyesight isn't so bad that he mistook me for you?"

The twins laughed heartlessly; mistaking the burly Wood for Harry was no easy task.

But Harry wasn't in the mood to laugh. He realized with a start that Black, the escaped convict who had served twelve years in prison, had once been so close to him.

"Perhaps I should focus more on my thesis on the dueling system." Harry touched his bag, where the beginning of a thesis was hidden.

As Halloween approaches this weekend, the festive atmosphere is growing stronger.

Felix got up early and reviewed the paper in his hand.

"...The above suggests that we may have found a new treatment for memory impairment that is more targeted than the old drug and spell treatments. The only two problems are that we need to find a way to stably connect with the patient's memory, not a brief and malicious prying into thoughts like Legilimency, but a way of information exchange in a cooperative state."

Meanwhile, for cases of extreme memory impairment (extensive permanent damage, fragmented memories), simple bonding is insufficient. We need to consider giving memories a stable structure…

Felix nodded in satisfaction. "The entire paper is theoretical derivation, but it also subtly touches on the most crucial part—the magic of the mind house and the structure of solid memory."

"Let's release it first and see the reaction. Hmm... I can publish it in the monthly edition of The Daily Prophet, which has a certain influence, but it's not my area of ​​expertise, so the preparation period will be longer."

"I estimate it won't spread to the therapist community until mid-to-late November. Purely theoretical things like this will definitely attract different opinions. By then, the Longbottoms' situation may no longer be a secret. But I can use this as an excuse to avoid higher-level intervention from St. Mungo's. No one would be foolish enough to reject a potential Merlin Order medal-level achievement."

He put away the paper; all he needed to do was adjust the wording, copy it again, and he could send it out.

Felix sat on the sofa, pondering how to simplify the treatment plan. This was also Dumbledore's advice to him. Whether it was the Mind Chamber magic or the memory nodes inherited from Lady Ravenclaw, they were all extremely valuable knowledge. He wasn't so careless as to casually reveal them.

Moreover, very few people can actually learn it.

"The simplification of the Mind Hut magic is relatively easy, and I know it very well. As for memory nodes..." Felix thought for a moment and decided to offer his second understanding of the stable memory structure from the Ravenclaw lady's legacy—this is the structure he used on magical puppets, which allows them to have relatively stable personalities and habits, and even to rehearse plays on their own.

Inside the glass container on the workbench, the eight-eyed giant spider urged in a hoarse voice, "Hurry up, hurry up! I can't wait."

Felix turned around: "Are you really not going to consider it anymore? I can give you a vacation, and plenty of food..."

"Stop talking, stop talking!" the eight-eyed giant spider said irritably. "Let me go back."

"Alright." Felix reached out and grabbed the glass container on the workbench. It flew into his hand and shattered with a "crack." In a hazy blue light, the eight-eyed giant spider shrank in size until it was about the size of a thumb tip.

Felix put it back into the small-mouthed glass bottle, and a faint voice came from the bottle, "Your magic has improved again. I don't feel anything unusual. Maybe, I mean maybe... it just happens to cooperate with your tests occasionally." Felix curled the corners of his mouth and put the bottle into his pocket.

He glanced at the time and appeared at the castle gate right on time. Two minutes later, just when he thought he wouldn't see her, Luna appeared, bouncing and skipping.

"Felix, I've prepared some peas with butter; Ferenze will like them," she said, pointing to the crookedly woven flower basket.

Felix didn't know what centaurs liked, but he didn't particularly like the smell, so he changed the subject, saying, "Let's go see your friends."

They descended the slope, passing greenhouses and willows, and Hagrid's Hut came into view in the distance, but instead of approaching, they turned a corner and went straight into the Forbidden Forest.

After passing through a barrier of trees, they soon arrived at a clearing. The clearing was covered with moss and various wildflowers, and several stones had been carefully cleared; clearly, this was Luna's secret base.

Luna took a whistle out of her pocket, puffed out her cheeks, and blew it. The sound was not loud, but it blended perfectly with the rustling wind around her. Felix judged that it was a magical item.

Soon, Felix heard the sound of hooves trotting, and a young centaur appeared, with white hair and the body of a silver-maned horse.

Felix judged him to be "young" from his human face, as the centaur cautiously peered at him through the branches of the trees, half of his body hidden behind the trunk.

"Little Luna, is he your teacher?" the centaur asked. Felix was dressed in exquisite clothes, which gave him no reason to doubt Felix's status as a professor.

"Yes, come on, I've prepared some new food for you, let's try it together!" Luna said happily.

Ferenze emerged from behind the tree trunk and stopped two meters away from Felix. His face was stiff. "Hello, I'm Ferenze."

"Oh, hello, I'm Felix Heap," Felix said politely.

"Listen, wizard. We don't usually deal with people, especially adult wizards. If it weren't for little Luna asking me to meet you..."

Felix smiled and said, "I know centaurs are xenophobic, but I think you'll be an exception. Besides, I'm here to discuss some rather serious issues with you."

Ferenczek stared wide-eyed and asked, "What's the problem?"

Do you know Sirius Black?

"I've heard of that name; he's a dangerous person," Ferenz said casually.

"That's right, he escaped from Azkaban. The Ministry of Magic and the Dementors are furious. By the way, have you ever seen a Dementor?"

Ferenze replied curtly, "I didn't, but some of my tribesmen say they've seen their shadows."

“That’s it,” Felix said. “The Forbidden Forest isn’t safe, and frankly, if the Dementors really get out of control, I don’t think you’ll have any good way to deal with them.”

The centaur pawed at the dirt with his hooves, his face contorted with anger, but he knew the words were true.

Felix continued, "It's too dangerous to let a student near the Forbidden Forest, and it's against school rules anyway. My advice is to be cautious until the Dementors leave."

"Are you trying to stop us from meeting?"

"I have no intention of ruining a friendship; it might even be a wonderful memory for Luna when she grows up. Ferencze, you and Hagrid should know each other, right?"

"I know him," the centaur said.

Felix laughed. "Isn't this great? I don't think Hagrid would mind hosting you. Perhaps meeting in the pumpkin patch behind Hagrid's cabin would be nice too."

"Hagrid may be stronger than a centaur," Ferenz said. "I don't think he can handle a Dementor."

Felix shook his head. "Frenzer, you still don't understand. Hagrid is a wizard. Regardless of how he usually acts, there's no doubt he's a wizard, and he has more methods than you and your entire race combined."

"He might not be able to fight the Dementors, but he should be able to hold out until he gets backup. Besides, we're talking about the most extreme scenario; it's rare for Dementors to go out of control."

Ferenczer reluctantly agreed, stepped forward, and bent down to shake hands with Felix.

"It's clear you have no prejudice against centaurs, Mr. Hyp," he said.

"Oh, of course not, Ferenczer, do you know the location of the Octopod's lair?" Felix asked.

"I know," Ferenze said hesitantly, pointing in a direction. "Their lair is to the west of the tribe. We fought them many years ago. Their hunting range doesn't extend beyond the boundaries we've drawn."

Felix roughly estimated the locations of the centaur settlement, the spider's lair, and Hogwarts. He suddenly realized that the centaurs had separated the giant spider swarm, making it difficult for even the playful young wizard to walk for several hours on the rugged road. Moreover, he was very likely to be discovered by the centaurs and driven back.

For the rest of the time, apart from Luna being in a good mood, Felix and Ferencze didn't talk much. Ferencze shared "morning tea" with Luna, which was a plate of buttered peas. Luna wanted Felix to try some as well, but he refused.

Before leaving, Ferenc said hesitantly, "Perhaps you are right."

"What?" Felix asked.

"Danger is approaching..." The centaur flicked his silver tail uneasily. "The people have also noticed it; undercurrents are stirring, and darkness is drawing near."

Felix laughed. "Perhaps this foreshadows the reappearance of some vanished Dark Lord?"

Ferenc stared at him in surprise and said slowly, "I didn't predict that accurately. The centaurs observed the stars and found some important revelations, but they only gave general responses."

Felix said casually, "I can't predict the future, but I know more than most people. When you have enough information, you can naturally see further. That's the principle behind arithmetic divination."

Emerging from the Forbidden Forest, Luna said thoughtfully, "You were talking about the Mystic? Is he coming back?"

"That's possible." Felix didn't elaborate; she was only a second-year student.

After seeing Luna off, Felix turned back to the Forbidden Forest and walked for more than ten minutes in the direction the centaur had pointed out. Later, he simply used his flying broom to quickly skim over it at low altitude.

His goal was clear: the nest of the eight-eyed giant spider.

A three-thousand-word chapter!!!

Also, there's something I forgot to mention: this book has already reached level three in terms of popularity, and a certain number of fan titles will be given out every month. There are also activity posts in the comments section, so feel free to check them out if you're interested.

(End of this chapter)