A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 257 Kettleburn's Reply

When the banquet ended, Felix picked up his firecracker hat and got up to leave. He noticed that Hermione hadn't left with her companions but had stayed behind alone.

"Is there something you need, Miss Granger?" He assumed Hermione was looking for him.

"Oh, Professor," she hesitated, "I have something to say to Professor McGonagall."

"Is that so…" Felix nodded. "Then I'll be going now. By the way, I like the music box you gave me; it doesn't seem to be just a simple alchemical artifact?"

Hermione's worried expression disappeared, and she said happily, "I brought that from home. I recast the spell using the original mechanical structure. For the music, I referenced the Parseltongue scroll. The magical runes that store the sounds on it are very useful..."

Felix understood. After the Chamber of Secrets incident last year, Harry still spent a few days perfecting the Parseltongue pronunciation. Felix then compiled the corresponding syllables into a book and stored it in the Mind Hut.

For a while, he did see Hermione tinkering with the scroll by herself, and she even asked him for some making techniques...

Back in his office, he took some time to reply to a few more letters, one of which, a formal official letter, caught his attention.

"It's a letter from the Ministry of Magic."

Felix stared at the mark on the letter, wondering what it might contain. Could it be his paper on memory treatment? But he had only sent it out yesterday; when did the Ministry of Magic react so quickly?

Upon opening the letter, he first glanced at the signature at the bottom, which read "Walsh Cedric of the Office of Advisors to the Minister of Magic," before he began to read the main text.

"Dear Mr. Heap: Some of my colleagues have noticed that your new book, *Magic in the Muggle World*, has been recommended reading by the Ministries of Magic in twelve countries. Combined with your two previous monographs on Muggle issues, this demonstrates your profound understanding of the Muggle world. We cordially invite you to give an internal lecture to the members of the Ministry of Magic..."

……

The meeting is tentatively scheduled for 2:00 PM on the first Thursday after the Christmas holidays in Meeting Room 2. Please contact me if you have any objections or if the time is inconvenient for you.

Your faithful

Walsh Sidderick, Office of Advisor to the Minister of Magic.

Below is a long list of departments whose members, if he accepts, would be his audience, including: the Muggle Problem Mediation Committee, the Muggle Liaison Office, the Department for Prohibiting the Misuse of Muggle Items, the Reversal of Accidental Magical Events Group, the Memory Deletion Command, and interested individuals.

"That makes sense, since these are departments that frequently interact with ordinary people."

Felix pondered for a moment. He was still very willing to promote his ideas, and he also wanted to learn more about the actual situation of the Ministry of Magic. Among the people he had dealt with so far, Fudge was a typical politician, Umbridge was no less so, and even more disgusting, while Kingsley Shackleton was calm and capable.

The remaining people were either strangers or had only communicated with each other through letters, making it impossible to form an accurate judgment.

He pulled out a piece of parchment, picked up a pen, and wrote: "Dear Mr. Sidrick, I am delighted to accept your invitation, but I would like to schedule it for Friday, as I have no classes that afternoon..."

After sending the letter, all that was left was to wait. During the last few days of his vacation, he didn't spend time in the library or research magical artifacts in his office, but instead developed a new habit.

He always has a few magical symbols, no bigger than his little finger, by his side. He picks them up and plays with them from time to time, and he does this even while eating and sleeping.

At his level, simply increasing the number of runes was no longer very effective. The ancient runes he learned from many ancient books and alchemical items were not actually understood in great depth.

He decided to take some time to organize what he had learned. If he could complete a book of magic runes, it would be much more effective than mastering hundreds of new and practical magic runes.

He also visited several experts on ancient runes—he had very few friends in this field, and even his closest friend, Toford, had very limited knowledge of it.

In Felix's opinion, he might as well pretend to be an alchemist and mingle in the alchemy circle. Nicolas Lemaître had introduced him to a few people before, and he had written a few letters expressing his desire to exchange ideas, but things gradually faded away because their focuses were completely different, and communication always felt awkward.

Alchemists pay more attention to the selection and proportion of alchemical materials, as well as the fusion of different properties. A rare formula may sell for an astronomical price or become a closely guarded secret. They also focus on so-called alchemical formulas, especially the unique ways in which they achieve their functions.

Felix exchanged some knowledge with them and then maintained communication at a lower frequency.

He wasn't in a hurry. If there wasn't a suitable circle, he would create one himself: eight or nine of his students who graduated last year still kept in touch with him through letters, among whom the girl named Vera was the most proactive.

She has become a Gringotts curse remover, a rather dangerous and serious profession where they may be killed by ancient curses, poisons, or curses in the course of their work, but the rewards are correspondingly high.

Kremi Villa wrote to him to tell him that she was currently working in Egypt, where there are a vast number of ancient tombs and historical sites, and that her colleagues were very friendly.

She even discovered a practical application for runes—many ancient defenses and traps relied on alchemy, and practical runes, compared to other alchemical symbols, possessed superior magical properties and could hold more magical power. Therefore, they were often chosen by ancient wizards as the core of their entire defensive and counter-attack systems.

During a recent operation, Vera unexpectedly discovered a useful magic rune hidden in the decorative patterns inside the pit. She used this to avoid a sinister curse and thus successfully gained official status.

Felix was generous with his advice, pointing out in his reply that for some alchemical traps that were not very aggressive but difficult to break in the short term, one could try to build a magic rune loop to draw out the magic and quickly deplete its energy.

……

Meanwhile, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were also busy. Ever since Hagrid wrote to Professor Kettleburn for help, they had been going to Hagrid's hut every day to see how things were going.

Having something important to do also lessened Harry's resentment towards Hermione. He knew Hermione meant well, but the Firebolt he had just acquired was taken away by Professor McGonagall to check for possible dark magic and curses, and he also had to endure the old Comet series, which made him feel very aggrieved.

Hagrid finally received a reply just before the start of the school year.

"Quickly, Hagrid, quickly!" Harry said impatiently.

Hagrid tore open the letter, cleared his throat, and said, "Hagrid, I'm glad to receive your letter. I sympathize with Buckbeak's plight, but there's nothing I can do. I don't really have any connections in the Ministry of Magic. You can't expect a decrepit old man who's been a repeat student 62 times and only just received a promotion before retirement to have any good connections, unless you want to make a troll friend or two—"

Harry, Ron, and the others had strange expressions. They were both disappointed that Professor Kettleburn hadn't been able to help, and they couldn't help but laugh at his witty self-deprecation. They looked like they wanted to laugh but were trying their best to hold it in, and Ron's eyebrows were practically flying to his forehead.

"Then what do we do—"

“Don’t rush, there’s more,” Hagrid said. “I’ll continue—but I recommend someone to you who has enough prestige in the realm of magical creatures, and coincidentally, he’s very interested in hippogriffs, supposedly influenced by his mother. I’ve included his address; you can write to him soon, and I’ll also write a letter explaining the situation. Yours faithfully, Silvanus Kettleburn.” Hagrid finished reading the letter and looked up at them.

"Who is it? Who did he recommend?" Hermione asked in a hoarse voice; she had recently caught a cold.

Hagrid lowered his head again, looked at the bottom of the letter, and read out a name with wide eyes: "Newt Scamander."

The third update might be after midnight, or it might not be finished and will be moved to the next day. Please don't wait.

(End of this chapter)