Notes from a slightly chatty Chagas Gunter led Felix to conclude that the book came from a family called "Gunter", or at least that it had been in their possession for a long time.
The notes that follow are full of praise for their great-grandfather.
There was more than one who did that.
This gave Felix the pleasure of reading the commentary.
The runic artefact that Felix was about to complete also came from this ancient book, "runic artefact" rather than "alchemical artefact" because its internal circuitry is constructed entirely from a series of magic runes, with no trace of latter-day alchemy.
Many people would not be able to tell the difference, but Felix is an exception - Rune Engraving can be used in ancient magic as well as engraved on objects because it is a language, a magic language.
Its essence was an ancient wizard's exploration and summary of magic.
Alchemy, on the other hand, is different because it is partly an inheritance of ancient magic Runes, which have been developed independently with the aim of "leaving magic on objects and giving them a special magical function".
So the symbols used in alchemy cannot be called Runes, but merely magic icons.
But it also had the advantage of being a magical technique, and the many great wizards who experimented with ways to impart magic to various objects have left a legacy of mind-boggling techniques.
The French alchemist Nicholas Flamel is one of the best in this field.
Compared to alchemy, runic artefacts are considered " ancient art ". This is one of the reasons why he believes that the notes are quite old.
...
The runic artefact that Felix wanted to create is called " Binding Vine", which uses the spreading properties of the magic vine itself to launch a surprise attack, with the advantage of no incantation and a stable and trouble-free launch.
But how powerful it is a matter of opinion, or at least a question mark in Felix's mind.
But he isn't looking for potency either, he is looking for the ideas contained within: firstly, the idea of making a runic artefact, and secondly, the skill of combining opposing magical properties in depth.
Unicorns, which represent purity and goodness.
On the other hand, the devil's snare is an extremely aggressive magic plant that is always actively attacking all kinds of small animals and unlucky humans; hunting is their instinct.
It's difficult to combine the magical properties of the two together under normal circumstances, and Felix took a reference from the ancient books to neutralize this antagonism with the help of the Whomping Willow - which, despite its violent behaviour, is an unmistakably unbiased plant.
With a wave of his wand, Felix breaks up the mat, woven from unicorn hair, and places it in the water to absorb a dunk; almost instantly, the water becomes pitch black.
Felix: "..."
He changed the water several more times before the unicorn fur got cleaned, and then he dried it with magic.
It's only then that the unicorn fur showed its original appearance, the long soft, and smooth white hairs stretching out to their fullest, the warm light flowing constantly as if it were a solidified Mercury build.
The other two main materials would take time to develop, the devil's snare needed to be wait for it to grow a little more, and the willow branches needed to be infused with magic and made more flexible to facilitate the transformation.
Felix estimated that the preparations would not be finished until at least the end of November.
But he could think ahead about how to optimize the magic circuit ...
Time went by and Felix completed the first mass general examination for all five grades - an examination he had promised at the start of the school year.
The weekend before Halloween, he is still busy grading exam papers.
It's a good thing he isn't alone; there's another assistant working overtime with him.
Ten o'clock in the evening.
Hermione covered her mouth and yawned, stealing a glance at Professor Hap.
"Professor, I'm done grading."
Felix looked up, "I have some more here, so go ahead and return. Have a good Halloween party."
Hermione said goodnight and left the office. As she walked, she too had something to look forward to in three days. But it isn't a school party she is planning to attend, it is the 500th anniversary of the death of Gryffindor's ghost, Nearly Headless Nick that she decided to attend.
In the common room, many of the young Gryffindor wizards were still catching up on their homework.
Ron let out a whine, still eight inches short on his Potion paper and a foot short on his History of Magic paper.
"Why do we have to do so much homework before Halloween!"
Ron shouted out the thoughts of a number of the young wizards, who looked on with approval, and then continued to keep their heads down and catch up with their homework.
Hermione sat down next to Harry and Ron and said nonchalantly, "If you guys had finished your homework earlier, you wouldn't have this much trouble."
She is much busier than anyone else; in addition to her homework, she not only had to do her job as an Ancient Magic Rune class Assistant, but she also had to additionally practice magic runes taught by Professor Hap. So far, she has grasped 19 magic runes.
Professor Hap said she would have the opportunity to work independently on an Alchemy item this year.
Ron grimaced, "Stop nagging and hurry up and lend me your History of Magic paper."
"You have to finish your homework yourself!"
"I'm just taking reference, aren't I, Harry?"
Harry nodded his head in a hurry.
Eventually, Hermione lent them her homework.
Over the next two days, the festive atmosphere on campus grew stronger. The rooms were bright and cheerful, despite the pouring rain outside the windows and the ink-like darkness of the sky.
Professor Flitwick decorated the great hall with flying bats, Professor McGonagall morphed huge colourful decorations, and the huge pumpkins Hagrid had planted were finally put to use, carved into hollowed-out lanterns big enough for three to five people to sit inside.
There are whispers around campus circling that Dumbledore has booked a skeleton dance troupe to liven up the festivities.
Everyone is looking forward to the party for Halloween day.
Only Harry and Ron were sullen, as Harry had agreed to attend the 500th anniversary of the death of "Nearly Headless " Nick, and Ron had stood by his brother and offered his company.
But the more they saw the great hall decorated with lanterns, the more bitter their smiles became.
This bitterness finally reached its peak on the afternoon of Halloween.
At seven o'clock, the three of them walked straight through the doorway, ready to go to the feast. As they passed by the great hall, it's decorated with lights and candles glowing. Huge pumpkin lanterns, each the size of a carriage, were on display, and some young wizards had already chosen their seats and were talking and laughing.
As Harry pushed his way through the crowd, he even saw one of the twins guiding the ghostly dolls, catching up with one wizard after another, spraying black air in their faces and making ghostly "cackling" noises from the magic golems.
Just the day before, Felix handed out the results and fulfilled his promise that the first-place winner in each grade would receive a customized version of the magic golem, with more power and more "tricks" inside.
The top student in Year 4 is not one of the twins, but Cedric of Hufflepuff - who is a frequent first-place winner. When he was picking his prize, he was fooled by the twins and picked the ghost doll.
He is now sitting with his friend, but his eyes were on a third-year Ravenclaw girl, and he suddenly felt some regret in his heart that he should have chosen a cute little one and given it to this girl ...
Cedric's mind wandered a hundred times, and the path beneath the trio feet winded and twisted as they made their way down, straight to the basement, the sound of joy behind them growing lower and lower, just as they were feeling at the moment.
Through a cold corridor of black candles, they saw "Nearly Headless " Nick standing at the door of one of the chamber to greet his guests, dressed up today in a black velvet cloak.
"Welcome, my dear friends, it's wonderful to have you here ..."
Almost at the same time, Dumbledore also announced the official start of the Halloween party, and the cheers of the young wizards echoed through the great hall.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other, their faces eerie in the light of the bluish candlelight, and the three walked in as if they were dead.