As the month of February approached, the snow began to melt in the school, the air became damp and chilly, and with the first cold rain arrival, Professor McGonagall called the seven most promising students over to remind them that they had entered the rainy season and that there would be a high probability of encountering a thunderstorm.
Of course, this was said to the students in order to give them a greater sense of urgency and prevent them from relaxing, privately Felix had assured her that he could bring a storm to Hogwarts at any time.
Once again at sunset, Harry finished the Animagus incantation, as he did so he felt his heartbeat beat a little faster, but he wasn't sure if it was an illusion and after a few moments of hesitation he decided to wait two more days and report it back to the Professor when he felt sure.
He walked back towards the yard and saw two familiar figures, one of which left quickly after he appeared. He quickened his pace and went over there.
"Luna?"
"Hi Harry," Luna waved enthusiastically at him, even though Harry was already standing in front of her, "It's been a while."
"It hasn't really been that long," Harry muttered, "Were you just talking to Ron?"
"Yeah, but we didn't get to talk much, when he saw you he left, I think he is avoiding you." Luna said.
"Thanks for telling me that." Harry said. Luna showed her special talent again - telling the unpleasant truth in one sentence, he hadn't really seen anyone like her, "So ... um, what did you guys talking about?"
Harry tried to steer the conversation in the right direction, not leaving Luna on her own devices anymore.
"He told me to bugger off -"
"Not that - I'm sorry Luna, I apologize on his behalf, Ron hasn't been in the best possible mood lately and has been acting like a complete arsehole ... It's partly because of me."
"It's okay," Luna said calmly, "Ginny told me a little bit about how she shouldn't have been so impulsive, even though she spent more time justifying that she was right and that it was Ron who deserved it ... She also mentioned Hermione and Neville. So my friends have been fighting behind my back?"
Harry felt squirmy inside, hearing Luna sound like this is a wholesome group activity, and they hadn't even bothered to include her.
"No, Luna, I was wondering if he mentioned anything in particular? Like -"
"His birthday." Luna said in a bit of a trance, "He said he had messed everything up and told me to leave him alone, looking quite remorseful, but it's not unusual, is it? Well, it was a rite of passage ... I remember your birthday being at the end of July?" Her last sentence stopped being so dazed.
"That's right," Harry said distractedly, that wasn't what he wanted to know. "Thank you, Luna, but I am actually wondering where he's been hiding all this time - wait, a rite of passage?" His mind spun quickly; he knew Ron's birthday is on the first of March, and he had long since prepared a present, he just hadn't made much of a connection between this and coming of age.
Something suddenly dawned on him: among the three of them, he, Ron, and Hermione, Hermione was the first to come of age, then Ron, and finally he himself - the 31st of July, just under six months from now.
Not much time left. He thought longingly.
Perhaps Ron had tried to perform the Animagus Transformation as his coming-of-age inauguration, and that was why he had reacted so badly when it had failed? Harry subconsciously made excuses for Ron. At that moment Luna started to answer Harry's second question.
"... I went to ask Felix about my two presents that seemed to fit together and couldn't be separated, the Rune Goblet of Fire and the Goblet of Fire model that Ginny gave me, he said it would be alright, although somewhat surprising ... Ron was there at that time."
"You said you met Ron in Professor Hap's office?" Harry caught the key point sharply, "What was he doing there?"
"... Stuffing his mouth full, with chocolate cake, I almost didn't recognize him," Luna finished her sentence as if she hadn't heard him, "that's all I've seen him do. But maybe he was there all the time."
Harry went back with even more doubts in his stomach than before.
He really hadn't expected Ron to be at Professor Hap's office, because as far as he was aware, the Professor didn't seem to have had any contact with Ron individually, even in detention, he was there with Ron, and what was the whole chocolate cake thing?
On the other side, Ron had walked a long distance away, and he made a lengthy detour, turned to the front of the castle, climbed the grand staircase, and knocked furtively on the ancient rune professor's office.
It was Valen who opened the door.
"Is the professor still in classroom seven?" Ron asked in a whisper.
Valen nodded woodenly, knowing from past experience that her snack is in danger again, and Ron dashed in impatiently. Inside, there was a cartoon playing.
On the table lay a selection of fruit slices and the homework Professor Hap had left for Valen.
Except for the first time when Felix was there, it had been Valen who had hosted Ron the remaining times, and as for the reason - Valen wanted someone to do her homework together with her, and the person who had filled that role most of the time in the past had been Hermione, although she hadn't turned up much recently, seemingly busy working on how to turn into an animal.
Valen was taken aback by that whole notion. She had also double-checked with Ron and confirmed that Animagus would only allow a wizard to turn into a normal creature, not even a magical creature.
Is there any need to learn that?
Valen thought about the range of forms she had seen the Great Demon King take - the Thestral with bat wings, the Occamy that could turn big and small, the Demiguise that could become invisible, the Golden Snidget that would suddenly disappear and appear, the Thunderbird that could control lightning, the White Ferret that could split itself in two ...
Because the list is too long, it made Valen, who had fallen into a memory, look like she had drifted into a daze.
Ron opened his book bag and took out his textbook and parchment, he is paying the price for his actions, now he will have to write his own homework without a single reference, but he does want to prove that he can do it without relying on anyone.
Although this has basically ended up with him and Valen watching cartoons and eating snacks together on a few occasions. But at least Valen's homework didn't require much brain power; it could be written while watching, whereas he couldn't, which made Ron even more frustrated inside.
Could he really can't accomplish anything?
He spread out his parchment with a grimace and began to write a letter, one of the few people he could still talk to at the moment - not counting Lavender, who seemed to have a soft spot for him and had a surprisingly strong presence these days, and she is also one of the people he needs to avoid.
Valen moved her eyes away from the screen and looked down to examine her homework, it looked okay, it didn't contain anything from the cartoon... She looked at Ron again and moved over to take a glance. Ron raised his head warily and covered the parchment.
"Kee?"
"What did you say?"
Valen sighed, the popularization of the Niffler language has a long way to go, and only three people at this point can speak to her directly. Valen took out her exclusive wand and wrote in the air - she could write fast and neatly now: who is 'Dear Collins'?
Ron drew in a cold breath.
"Her name is Collins, not 'Dear Collins' -" he struggled to explain the composition to a Niffler, "it's a letter writing term, something similar to 'hello' ..."
The little wooden wand continued to dance and a few new words appeared in the air.
'Dear Lavender?'
Ron shook his head repeatedly, "No, you can't use it like that."
Valen squinted her eyes as if she is looking at a liar.
...
When Felix walked out of classroom seven, Ron was staring at the screen with a glowing gaze as the Tom and Jerry episode reached a crucial moment. His mouth was stuffed with strawberry sandwich biscuits. "Profes-Professor?" Ron said sheepishly.
"Well," Felix said, "you are here again, so the relationship is still stiff?" Ron mumbled something. "Never mind, stay as long as you like, I'll just say to the rest that you've been detained by me, just don't make a fuss about it."
He suddenly thought of something, "By the way, your birthday is on the first of March right?"
"Yes, Professor." Ron said as he swallowed hard the snack in his mouth, "A month before Fred and George."
Felix sat behind his desk, his right hand resting on his chin as his thoughts raced. Time is passing so quickly, and this batch of sixth years are starting to grow up one by one, the latest ... latest would be Harry and a few others, nearly a year after Hermione, tch, I wonder if there is a direct correlation between their grades and their birthdays.
Felix's movements suddenly stalled.
Coming of age ...?
If he remembered correctly, the protective magic using bloodline that Dumbledore placed on Harry would automatically be cancelled when he reached adulthood, right? Felix stared at Ron thoughtfully, making him uncomfortable for a moment.
"Professor?"
"Shh, don't make a sound." Felix said softly, his whole being lost in thought.
There are two layers of protection on Harry.
One layer came from Dumbledore, tied by blood kinship and would automatically expire when he reached adulthood; one layer came from Harry's mother, Lily Potter, solely targeting Voldemort's killing curse, although the effect should remain permanent; there is a limit to every spell, just how much more could Lily's protective magic be effective after resisting and bouncing off Voldemort's killing curse?
Previously he and Dumbledore had similar concerns. But that was more because Voldemort's power was strengthening, indirectly causing the connection between him and Harry to deepen, and now with Voldemort's consciousness falling asleep, the impact had become minimal.
However, this precisely shows that there will be an impact. And in almost another six months, Harry's own soul defences would plummet.
Felix couldn't quite tell, for a moment, just how many variables Harry's coming of age would add to the soul fragments in his head. But he did feel a long-lost tension as if ... time might not be as plentiful as he had thought. Thinking for a moment, he tore off a piece of parchment, and dipped his quill in ink, glancing at the calendar to find the closest weekend -
'February 8, in front of classroom seven; keep it confidential, and we will try to solve the problem at eight o'clock in the morning.'
Felix folded the note and handed it to Ron.
"Pass it on to Harry for me."
Ron's outstretched hand suspended in mid-air as he stammered, "Professor, could you ask Hermione to pass it on, I, I'm now-"
"That's fine." Felix didn't insist.
"Professor, what's the note about?" Ron asked, with a gulp, suspecting that the professor is attempting to secretly give Harry a little lesson again, just like that Professor Bagshot does.
"Well," Felix looked at Ron with a measuring gaze, "it's not really a big deal if I tell you, you should already know - you know what's being locked deep in classroom seven, don't you?"
"... the You-Know-Who."
"Well, it's time for Harry to face him."
Splat.
The cauldron cake in Ron's hand fell to the floor.
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