A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 275 Confiscated Items

Felix descended the spiral staircase empty-handed, as he always had, unlike other professors who carried books and parchment with them.

As he passed the castle keeper's office on the first floor, he heard Lupin's voice.

"...I'm so sorry to trouble you. If you can find it, please let me know."

Lupin's slender figure emerged from the office, brushing past Felix. "Hello, Professor Heap," he said, pausing for a moment before smiling.

"Hello, Professor Lupin, you look well," Felix replied.

After he left, Felix knocked on Filch's office door. "Mr. Filch, are you there?" The door opened, and Filch's face emerged from the shadows, a pair of goldfish eyes staring at him.

"It's Professor Hep, I thought..." he muttered, opening the door for Felix to follow. It was a rather small room, right next to the castle's foyer.

The room had no windows, and even during the day it was dark and cramped. The only light source was a green lantern hanging from the ceiling. There were many wooden filing cabinets along the walls, some of which were already full, with yellowed, old parchment scraps peeking out from the gaps.

There were several chairs in the office, but Felix had no intention of sitting down. He secretly cast an air-purifying spell on himself, finally getting rid of the omnipresent fishy smell.

Felix stared at a skinny cat on the table; its eyes were large, bulging, and sparkling.

"She seems very human," Felix said.

Filch was pleased that he used the word "she," and said with a trembling chin, "You won't find a smarter cat than her. If you ask me, she's more human, even better than a human... At least she won't break the school rules and she'll help you."

Felix listened patiently as he described what kind of person (or cat?) Mrs. Lorris was patrolling the corridor, until Filch was panting, at which point he added, "But she looks a bit malnourished."

Filch's voice was hoarse, as if no one had ever asked him this question before. He stammered, "She's a bit of a picky eater. I've tried to persuade her, but she only eats the fried fish I make..."

"I have some nutrients here, the formula is very ingenious, and the key is that it has no harmful effects," Felix said, as he brushed his right hand over the ring on his left hand, and a square wooden box appeared in his hand.

He opened the box, glanced at it briefly, and said with some regret, "Only half is left..."

Filch hesitated and said, "Lorice might not like it—" He took a small glass bottle from the wooden box, uncorked it, and a strange fragrance spread out, diluting the fishy smell in the room.

Mrs. Lorris immediately looked up at the glass bottle, her expression filled with longing.

But it didn't move. Instead, it looked up at Filch, who said, "It's alright, Loris, drink up."

The cat immediately let out a chilling meow, jumped off the table, and ran quickly to its owner. It stuck out its tongue and licked the bright red liquid in the bottle until it had licked the last drop. Then it stretched contentedly and purred.

Filch's eyes gleamed strangely, and he couldn't help but say, "Lorice has never been like this before; she's always been dismissive of the pet store's tonics."

Felix explained with a smile, "The formula comes from a potion master who was awarded the Order of Merlin, Second Class. It was left behind by Professor Belby. Although he just made it casually, its effects are definitely far superior to products on the market."

"That recipe—"

"I can give it to you. The configuration method is very simple, and you don't even need a wand, but you might need some dragon blood."

"That's nothing," Filch said quickly.

Do you have any parchment here?

"Yes—" Felch deftly opened the drawer and pulled out a stack of blank parchment. Felix beckoned with his finger, causing a piece of parchment to float in front of him. As he looked at it, a string of smooth letters automatically appeared on the paper.

Throughout this, Filch stared intently at the parchment in the air, his knuckles clenched together. Felix casually remarked, "By the way, I just saw Professor Lupin."

"Yes," Filch said unconsciously.

"He's coming here—"

“We’re demanding our confiscated items back,” Filch said, his eyes still fixed on the parchment. “Professor Hyp, and don’t blame me for stirring things up… he’s hardly a good man.”

Why do you say that?

Filch realized what was happening. He glanced warily at the door and lowered his voice, saying, "He was a troublemaker in school, always breaking the rules... Of course, he doesn't have as many friends as his two friends, but I know him well. He's the one who comes up with the bad ideas."

He looked at Felix and complimented him, "Unlike you, you were a decent person when you were in school—"

Felix said with a hint of amusement, "I got into quite a bit of trouble when I was in school."

Filch said slyly, “It’s different—sir, it’s different. You never cause trouble for others unless trouble comes to you first.” He pointed to a filing cabinet on the wall, “There’s a drawer there that belongs to them—Lupin and his funny friends, if Hogwarts hadn’t abolished corporal punishment…”

He grumbled discontentedly, "Mr. Pringle was lucky to be born at the right time, unlike me. Oh, Pringle was the former castle caretaker; he left behind a lot of tools, which I still have."

Felix looked at the meticulously polished iron chains hanging on the wall and shook his head. The young wizards had good reason to dislike Filch. He had long known that Filch enjoyed corporal punishment, and even though physical punishment had been abolished, mental punishment remained.

Filch is trying his best to innovate and promote this skill.

"Mr. Filch, you just said that Professor Lupin came to reclaim his belongings—"

"That's right. More than a decade ago, he and his friends were wandering around when I questioned them. I found a suspicious, folded parchment on them. I suspected it contained some secret, so I confiscated it."

Filch said, half of his face twitching. "You have no idea how wicked they were. After the parchment was confiscated, they acted like it didn't matter at all," he said viciously. "They must have thought I couldn't decipher the secrets on it and would just throw it away so they could secretly pick it up. But—I didn't. Instead, I kept it, locked in that drawer marked 'High Danger'."

"So what happened to that parchment? Was it returned to Professor Lupin?" Felix asked curiously.

"...It's lost," Filch said dejectedly. "I don't remember when it was lost; maybe they took it themselves."

"But you said Professor Lupin came to ask for it..."

"Who knows? Maybe his friends didn't tell him, or maybe other young wizards stole it from me over the years," Filch said regretfully.

The parchment fell from mid-air, and Felix handed the recipe to Filch. "Please keep this safe."

"Thank you, thank you—"

"You're welcome, Mr. Filch. I got what I wanted."

Felch looked at him in surprise, and Felix smiled and said, "Look, isn't Mrs. Lorris quite satisfied?" He pointed to the cat at his feet, which was lazily rubbing against his trouser leg.

(End of this chapter)