A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 264 The Room Behind the Curtain

The seventh-year wizards, both male and female, filed out of the classroom, their faces still showing signs of disorientation, as if they hadn't quite returned to reality. As they rounded the corner of the corridor, a brown-skinned Ravenclaw girl announced loudly, "I'm reserving an excellent score for the Ancient Runes NEWT exam!"

Her words were like a switch that flipped a circuit in them, and a torrent of discussion erupted from them—

"Ha~ I think so too!"

"That class was so amazing, I can't believe the next class is on Friday..."

"Yes, compared to Professor Hyp, my brain is practically full of weeds."

"Do you think Professor Haip's words make sense?"

"Well, I was planning to join the Ministry of Magic, but now I'm having second thoughts. My parents are both employees of the Ministry of Magic, and their lives aren't as glamorous as outsiders imagine."

"Really? Would you like to tell me...?"

Penelope leaned closer to Percy and whispered, "Is your target still the Ministry of Magic?"

Percy hesitated for a moment or two, then became resolute: "Yes, I also yearn for the future Professor Hyp described, but I must grasp what I can reach."

"But you shouldn't miss the professor's classes, right?"

"Are you kidding me?" Percy said. "I'll give it my all!"

The following day, these seventh-grade students appeared in other classes. Their unusual excitement and detached state attracted the attention of other professors, and Felix's actions and words spread among the professors.

Felix had thought someone would want to have a heart-to-heart talk with him, and he had even prepared his words, but everything went smoothly.

In the evening, he jotted down his thoughts in his office.

"The Mind Chamber magic has become increasingly powerful, even somewhat unfamiliar to me. Without resistance or obvious warning, I can instantly pull the surface consciousness of a dozen or twenty people into the Mind Chamber; this is the foundation of today's lesson. From here, two branches can be extended—"

"The first branch is the direction of attack; however, the Mind Hut cannot truly harm the opponent, since it only pulls in an external reflection of the true consciousness. If the opponent resists, it will fail, making it difficult to use in actual combat in the short term."

He stopped and heavily underlined the statement that it would be difficult to apply in actual combat in the short term. He couldn't give up on it just because of the vaguely terrifying prospect it presented.

Imagine, at some point in the future, he could take down a whole group of wizards with a single glance...

"The second branch, the auxiliary direction, is used for accelerating thought processes and teaching ancient runes. The former is extremely useful in both combat and learning, while the latter—"

Felix paused to think, "The combination of the Mind Hut and memory magic is equally amazing. I have a real chance to become the greatest teacher in history."

He then thought: "I don't know whether to be glad or regretful that memories cannot be implanted. This is because a person's memory is a very delicate thing, and rashly altering it will cause unpredictable consequences. Even if I forget everything, it will only reduce the side effects as much as possible, not eliminate them."

The Ministry of Magic's memory erasure personnel usually only erase memories from the last few hours, but those whose memories are erased usually experience a day or two, or even a week or two of forgetfulness and slowed reaction time... I have personally verified this with dark wizards.

But the process of imparting knowledge is far from simple or minor; its impact on people is immeasurable...

I've only barely circumvented this limitation yet; its real function is still to accelerate learning.

A series of names flashed through Felix's mind: Severus, Dumbledore, Lockhart, Lady Ravenclaw, the Longbottoms... Whether actively or passively, they all contributed to the improvement and enhancement of the Mind Chamber, which is why he was able to use the magic with ease and fluency in just a year and a half.

Not to mention, he actually underwent a major upgrade in his memory magic, and received strong support from the restricted section of the Hogwarts Library...

Felix picked up the parchment and watched quietly as it turned to ashes, which then coalesced again in the Thinking Hut.

Felix rolled them into a round parchment tube, pulled a silver-green string from the air, and secured the tube in place.

He deftly climbed over the stacks of books on the dark chestnut carpet and stood before the dark green curtain. The curtain rose high without wind, revealing the tall doorway behind it.

He reached out and touched the handleless door, and with a gentle push, the door opened silently.

Behind the door lies his true inner world, where all his deepest secrets and memories are hidden.

This is a long room with a straight aisle in the middle that seems to have no end. On both sides of the aisle are tall bookshelves filled with books of various shapes and styles, each cover depicting a different stage of oneself.

In the corners of the shelf, there are also some notebooks, photos, memory balls, and similar odds and ends.

Felix strode forward as the room gradually brightened. Standing before a bookshelf, he patiently counted the numbers in the soft light: "Memory Magic—Mind Hut—Theoretical Derivation—Got it!"

He placed the small cylinder on the shelf, muttering to himself with a hint of frustration, "Hmm, the rooms are always changing; it takes me forever to find them every time I come..."

Felix emerged from the room behind the curtain, watched as the dark green curtain fell again, concealing the heavy doors, and then turned back into the real world.

In the ancient rune office, he glanced at the time and waited quietly—

"Knock knock knock!"

"Please come in—"

The office door opened, and Hermione hopped in like a thief.

"Has no one noticed, Miss Granger?"

"No, Professor. You told me to keep it a secret," Hermione said cheerfully. Two hours earlier, while she was having dinner, Professor Hyp's Patronus had suddenly appeared with a blank card in his mouth.

As her magic enveloped the card, a line of small print appeared: Time Converter, 8 PM tonight, confidential.

Hermione waited anxiously until after nine o'clock before using the Time-Turner to go back two hours and appear here.

Felix nodded and asked, "What are your thoughts on Sirius Black's attack yesterday?"

He intended to use this sentence as a starting point to raise suspicions about Scabbers, but Hermione gave him a surprise, or rather, a shock.

"Professor, we suspect—there might be something wrong with Ron's rats!" Hermione said in a low voice, her voice trembling with excitement.

"How...how did you find out?"

“It was Harry,” Hermione said. “The night before his third year started, he overheard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley talking. Mr. Weasley said, he said—” She held her breath, her eyes wide.

"After Black's escape, the Ministry of Magic went to Azkaban to investigate and collect evidence. The guards there mentioned that Black had been having recurring nightmares for the past few days—'He's at Hogwarts, he's at Hogwarts…'"

Hermione's voice sharpened: "We initially thought Black's target was Harry, but yesterday's attack proved otherwise, at least not his primary target. Furthermore, Black's unusual behavior actually occurred after Fudge gave him a newspaper—oh, Fudge said it himself, during the conversation between the Three Broomsticks and the professors—combined with Black's attack on Ron, we speculate it was the Daily Prophet that published the news of Ron's family winning the prize…"

Hermione was still explaining her thoughts, but Felix couldn't help but sigh. He was both impressed by Hermione and the others' keen insight and dissatisfied with Fudge's carelessness. After all this, it turned out that the root of the problem lay with him.

However, Harry and his friends actually received this information a while ago, but they only truly connected the dots yesterday. He, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky; he made his connection based on Black's Animagus and Black's unusual attack on Ron.

The most crucial clue here is actually the Animagus; following this clue, many things can be deduced.

"...Harry and I haven't told Ron yet. Oh God, we can't really be sure, but if it's true, he'll be so heartbroken."

"Miss Granger," Felix sighed, "that's certainly a possibility, which is why I brought you here. I originally thought—"

He shook his head slightly. "I need to change my strategy."

"Now that you've investigated this far, I hope you're aware of the potential dangers and prioritize protecting yourselves."

Felix beckoned three coins that could transform into ouroboros rings and placed them in Hermione's hand. "These are for the Spellbook Club. Giving them to you a few days early is no problem."

"You can contact me through it in case Harry forgets to bring his spyglass again... Three people are always more reliable than one."

In addition, you should always carry your beaded pouch with you. It can briefly counter the basilisk, and when activated suddenly, an ordinary dark wizard would be no match for you.

If you find a spotted rat, stun it immediately without hesitation. Then, alert a nearby professor or contact me directly.

(End of this chapter)