A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 274 "Absolutely No Spikes"

"Perhaps Professor Lupin... hiss~"

A sudden gust of cold wind swept into Ron's collar, making him swallow the rest of his words. He glanced at the break room window, carefully picking up a shard of glass: "There's a hole in here. Hasn't anyone fixed it?"

Hermione said impatiently, "It's just a spell, why don't you do it?"

When they got back to their dorm, Ron said to Harry, "Maybe it was her cat. I thought it was weird, especially the way it looked at me..."

Harry didn't continue the conversation, nor did he tell Ron that he had thrown Crookshanks off his bed two or three times. In his mind, the cat seemed to be particularly fond of Scabbers' scent, and even after he disappeared, it often came to visit. Perhaps it was just regretful that it hadn't had a treat.

However, Harry couldn't guarantee that if Scabbers were still alive, he wouldn't have been driven to suddenly become a dark wizard. "Maybe he left because he couldn't stand the harassment at Crookshanks," he thought. In a way, the cat had saved him and Ron's lives.

While taking off his clothes, Harry tried to find a new topic of conversation. "By the way, what were you going to say?"

Ron lowered his hand, which had been holding his shoe, and frowned as he carefully recalled, "I was thinking that perhaps Professor Lupin intended to use your Dementor doll to replace Boggart."

A few seconds later, Harry suddenly realized something and said excitedly, "You're right! Professor Hyp wrote on the card that the doll could help me. I originally thought I could use it to overcome my fear of Dementors and prevent the Quidditch match accident from happening again. Now it seems that Professor Hyp had foreseen this day all along."

Ron chuckled as he changed into his pajamas: "But it's not that different. You used it to convince Wood to let you continue competing. Remember how he almost fainted when he first saw this thing as a kid..."

Even though Ron was exaggerating, Harry couldn't help but laugh, especially when he thought of the burly Wood curling up in the back of the chair like a kitten.

Across the bed, Neville asked sleepily, "Harry? What happened?"

"It's nothing, go to sleep quickly," he said hastily.

Lying in bed, Harry thought hopefully that he wouldn't miss the next Quidditch practice session, just like Hermione never missed an elective—it was amazing, but he only cared about the result.

……

In the days that followed, Felix spent a considerable amount of time organizing the teaching steps for the ancient magic spell, Illumination, in addition to attending classes and going to the library every day to study the Pensieve borrowed from Dumbledore.

This was the end-of-term reward he prepared for the club. Although this magic could only be considered an infinitely enhanced version of Fluorescent Blink, both its effects and safety were satisfactory.

The only consequence of this magic going out of control is that it drains the magic power of reckless learners, which is far more benign than those who are burned to ashes or dried up and turned into mummies by the backlash of the spell.

Felix plans to break down this ancient magic and incorporate the knowledge into the upcoming gatherings, teaching it after the semester's exams.

Furthermore, his communication with Nicolas Flamel resumed, although they only communicated through photographs. He keenly sensed a deep weariness in Flamel's words, and a chill ran down his spine. Dumbledore's words resurfaced: "Nick's wife may not make it through the winter..."

But Nicolas Lemaître avoided the topic, and could only pretend not to know, so as not to reopen the old man's wounds.

Perhaps during the summer vacation, he could discuss with Nick Lemaître about staying with him for a while.

During this time, Mundungus contacted him several times, sending over a few ancient alchemical artifacts. He also brought out a fine silver piece, which Felix judged from its craftsmanship to be the work of a fairy. Such items were always very valuable, and it was clear that the owner handled them frequently. Felix guessed that it might have come from a pure-blooded family.

Mundungus tentatively asked if they wanted more, as he had a stable supply. This further convinced Felix, who couldn't help but sigh that even pure-blood families, though outwardly glamorous, were secretly selling off their assets.

In the first dueling lesson in January, Felix explained the rules of small dueling matches and had some older students demonstrate. Apart from the prohibition of using dark magic, semi-permanent polymorph, high-risk curses, and potions, there were not many restrictions.

"This competition will be as realistic as possible. The venue is not a fighting ring. After research by several professors, we decided to make full use of classroom number seven. That's right, it was converted from the practice classroom of the ancient magic script class."

"There's still a month until the duel officially begins, so you can make ample preparations."

In this dueling class, besides the information revealed by Felix, the most eye-catching person was Neville, whose Silent Stun Curse successfully knocked down several opponents, surprising those who knew him.

Neville's heart pounded. This was his first decisive victory. He grinned as Harry gave him a thumbs-up. Seamus Finnigan, snapping out of his daze, gave Neville a dramatic punch to the chest. "Hey buddy, what kind of drug did you take?"

Although everyone was happy for Neville's progress, his changes also made many people feel threatened. The most obvious example was the popularity of the dueling study group formed by Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

In an abandoned classroom, Ron said with a resolute expression, "Come on, Harry." A small group of people surrounded him, making his expression look even more tragic.

Harry hesitated for a moment, but obeyed nonetheless. He pointed his wand at Ron and shouted, "Imprison him immediately!" A magical rope wrapped around him, binding him from head to toe, and Ron slammed onto the mat with a thud.

He ran over, dispelled the spell, helped Ron up, and whispered, "Want to try again?"

"Again, I want to experience your magic a few more times—hiss~" Ron said, grimacing. "Has your magic mutated? I feel like my butt got pierced by spikes."

The students surrounding them all took a step back, and several girls—Lavender Brown and Parvati Petit—looked at them with disdain.

Harry hurriedly explained, "No, he probably has swollen skin, that's why he's feeling a stinging sensation. I've experienced that before—" He stopped, feeling like he was making things worse by trying to explain.

Now, even Ginny was looking at him strangely.

Harry, dejected, gave up on explaining, glared at Ron, and said irritably, "Ready?"

"wait--"

"Bang!"

Ron fell to the ground again, and Harry sincerely said to the others, "You can check, there are absolutely no spikes..."

(End of this chapter)