In the library.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione are sitting together in the library catching up on their assignments, but there is so much chatter around them about an article that they were unable to stop themselves from thinking about it. Mrs. Pince had already chased away three groups of bickering young wizards by waving a feather duster, but there had been no effect.
"Harry, didn't your wand core come from the same phoenix as the You-Know-Who?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, both come from Fawkes." Harry said slowly, not really wanting to admit it.
"Wouldn't your wand also make it onto the list then?" Ron excitedly asked in a low voice.
Harry's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
"Probably not," he said, "It also mentioned in the article that the wand and the wizard complement each other, and I'm just a student." Despite what he said, Harry couldn't help but fantasize that if he ever achieved something comparable to ... no, the very thought of Voldemort made his stomach churn, it would be better to think about someone else, Headmaster Dumbledore or Professor Hap would be perfect.
His eyes gradually looked lost.
"But how come Headmaster Dumbledore's wand isn't on it?" Ron flipped through the paper and was looking for a new topic with interest.
"It stated that only people who had publicly bragged about their wands would be on the list." Harry said casually.
" Then what's the deal with Salazar Slytherin?"
"Probably because of how unusual it looks." Harry remembered Lucius Malfoy's walking cane wand quite vividly.
At that moment, another pair of young wizards argued, and they seemed like a couple.
"How could our professor possibly kill someone?"
"But it's written in the paper-"
"It must be a rumour! And it only talks about 'possible', so maybe the rules itself are wrong."
They argued so much that they were finally thrown out by an annoyed Mrs. Pince all together.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other.
"Have the rumours developed this far already? It's only been a morning-" Hermione said incredulously, as she closed her book hard, " We should better warn the Professor, it's obviously someone is deliberately spreading it around."
"How do you know?" Harry asked.
"There are plenty of flaws." Hermione lowered her head and spread the paper out in front of them with some key points underlined, "Look guys, firstly, the article isn't signed, which is unusual, and secondly, the fact that only the Elder Wand is on the list isn't because of a certain wizard, and it's merely a fairy tale! The article seems very vague, yet it mentions the cruel way of passing it on and puts the professor's name on it ... Think about it, even we only accidentally had learned the name of the professor's new wand by eavesdropping on his conversation, what sources did the other guy used to learn about it?"
"Hiss~" Ron took a breath and made a handful of gestures, " Snape?"
"Unlikely-" Hermione shook her head as she looked from side to side and whispered, "Muffliato." The charm turned their speech into an indistinguishable buzzing sound.
"Why? I think it's possible." Harry said, his resentment towards Snape breaking through to new heights lately, at their last detention yesterday, Snape had made them clean the old jars and the smell in them could literally kill someone.
"Because he is close to the Professor." Hermione simply said.
" Well, it's still not impossible," Ron lowered his voice, "Who knows where all that information he got came from, not even Sirius knows that much, plus he was travelling around mysteriously during the summer, if you ask me, maybe he was visiting his friends and family all summer, visiting those 'old Slytherin friends' of his... . And he's very close to Malfoy's dad to boot!"
Hermione sighed.
"Although I don't like him either, Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Hap both trust him, do you think they're both stupid?"
Harry and Ron were dumbfounded; that reason was enough to erase all suspicions.
"Well, you're right." Ron said weakly.
"The problem now is that we can't let this rumour spread any further," Hermione said grimly, " We should better alert the Professor."
"Is that necessary?" Harry asked, "The Professor is not that fragile."
" It has nothing to do with being fragile, remember in the second year, when you were mistaken for being the heir of Slytherin? And the fourth year, when we were misunderstood about dropping our names into the Goblet of Fire?" Hermione analysed, "If all the students and their parents believe the rumours and pressure the school board, the Professor might possibly face a suspension."
Realizing the severity of the problem, they packed up their things and left, and passed the Slytherin House students who looked in high spirits.
"Well done ..." said a sixth-year Slytherin student with a red face.
Harry asked in disbelief, "Are they gloating?" Well, again, it didn't look like that.
"They're happy! They don't care how the Professor got the Elder Wand, remember what that wand represents? Invincible after obtaining the wand ..." Hermione said softly, "I heard Parkinson and Millicent talking about whether Professor Hap could beat Headmaster Dumbledore when I went to the lavatory, and from the tone of their voices, they seemed to be eager for it to happen."
"What a bunch of odd balls ..." Harry shook his head.
On the other side, Felix emerged from the Headmaster's office.
His expression faded.
The fact that the Elder Wand actually exists was something he didn't know before. To be precise, it was the Headmaster Dumbledore himself that had admitted that the Elder Wand could be considered more powerful than the average wand, and he hadn't asked for any details about the origin of the wand, as Dumbledore was obviously reluctant to elaborate further.
There could be a human life involved.
As Felix walked down the corridors, he could occasionally hear the excited chatter of students, some of them were speculating about the origin of Professor Hap's Elder Wand. When the rules of the Elder Wand's bloody succession were made public, it was inevitable that the rumoured 'owner' of that wand would be subjected to such a suspicious gaze.
Suspicion would be inevitable.
Even Dumbledore could not avoid it.
What's more, he had some vague guesses.
Headmaster Dumbledore's fighting history was pitifully low, though no one could ignore the legendary duel in 1945 - in which Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald, the Dark Lord of his generation, in a public duel.
As a consequence of this defeat, the community of so-called acolytes, which numbered over 10,000, fell apart.
But Grindelwald is still in Nurmengard Castle, where he is still alive and well, so the rumours could be incorrect, it is not necessary to kill the original owner; Perhaps a simple crushing defeat is enough to obtain the wand's allegiance.
From the few words of conversation with the headmaster, Felix came to the conclusion that the Elder Wand acted like a strength enhancer and a channeller. It would amplify the power of the wizard who held the Elder Wand, a boost that would be quite noticeable to all, if it had this power, then Felix can understand why this wand is considered as the most powerful wand.
Because the Elder Wand has had multiple wielders throughout the history of the wizard, and each of them has been formidable in the dueling field.
Why would a young wizard need to choose a brand new wand with no other wielder? Apart from wanting to choose the most suitable wand available to them, a more practical reason is that a second-hand wand carries its former owner's spellcasting habits, and it can easily taint a blank piece of paper with its own colour.
That article already said it all - the wand chooses the wizard, and then the wand and the wizard will grow together.
"That means: the wand has growth, but of course, that growth is not really noticeable to its wielder, at best it would feel much smoother." Felix wondered, "But what if the wand had fallen into the hands of someone else who matched it perfectly?"
If the original holder of the wand had been a master of Transfiguration, then the wand would help the new holder learn Transfiguration much better, regardless of rejection.
In his own case, for example, his wand is extremely exclusive; after all, it has his hair in it. But it is not impossible to adjust it; he can change the wand's ownership selection criteria for the wand to choose a wizard who is proficient in ancient runes.
Although this would be difficult and not something that could be easily accomplished, Felix knew a fair amount about Wandlore as well, or at least he had a high degree of certainty: if he gave enough time, or worked with Mr. Ollivander, he might actually be able to change the rules of the wand to minimize the rejection.
Perhaps in a thousand years, after his wand had drawn on the wisdom and spell-casting habits of the successive generations of ancient runes masters, it too would become a legend, an existence similar to the Elder Wand.
In Felix's mind, the Elder Wand might have started out as a mere new wand, created with top-notch materials, wand core, and manufacturing techniques, which might also have incorporated some alchemical techniques.
But the most important aspect - the thing that made the Elder Wand different from ordinary wands - was the fact that it could recognize itself.
This trait was enough to allow it to learn knowledge and spellcasting habits from multiple wielders over a long period of time. Felix mused about how Godelot had treated his wand as his partner and even mentor, using its power and knowledge to compile the Magick Moste Evile ...
Dumbledore explicitly stated that the Elder Wand doesn't think or communicate like a human, so is it just a faithful notation?
After all, its previous possessors had all been strong, and the occasional few who couldn't reach the standard would have left a strong mark on history because they were manipulated by the evil knowledge hidden within the wand.
Felix breathed a long sigh of relief.
Exactly why the wizard who crafted the Elder Wand did so is unknown; after all, Felix had a strong scepticism about the existence of Death itself, Beedle the Bard was from the fifteenth century and there were no similar legends before his time ...
As a matter of his own judgment, Felix figured that perhaps the wizard who built the Elder Wand was an extremely skilled alchemist and a Wandmaker, as for the purpose ... perhaps on a whim or as an experiment.
Some of the notes left by Nicolas Flamel had opened Felix's eyes, one of which concerned the legend of the Cornucopia.
'People tend to be intensely curious about areas they don't understand, and if they don't get an answer, they tend to fill in with their own cognitions; both wizards and muggles have this bad habit.
I can think of at least a dozen ways of creating a Folklore's Cornucopia, for example, ranging from an easy way by using a few hidden tricks (such as using an Undetectable Extension Charm to hide a batch of grains, fruits and flowers beforehand, after which you can sit back and watch the show) to more complex ways ( Which certainly can work even better than the legendary Cornucopia does, which in ancient times, when information was not easily available, could have been fabricated).
This can be built by simply adding small alchemical tools that cannot be seen by muggles, alchemical tools that have a strong sensitivity towards fruits, grains, flowers, golds, and so on, which are designed to steal the wealth of an innocent merchant a few hundred kilometers away from the Cornucopia when the muggle is asleep.
This was not difficult and the muggle (usually a simple peasant) of the time would only marvel at the fact that he had a treasure that spontaneously produced food, Jewellery, and a pot of gold, without suspecting that the fortune produced was in fact belonged to someone else and, if done cleverly enough, the stolen treasure could be fused into a fixed shape and marked with a unique mark... ...
In my long life, I have truly seen such a deed done, and as a result, I have been careful about keeping my creations out of circulation. I have kept my work strictly for the purpose of research alone, but of course, I can't rule out that it is because I made a bet with Perenelle ...'
Felix walked around the Black Lake, enjoying the refreshing breeze and watching Valen run after a butterfly, her scarf flapping up behind her head, and watching her happily run around made him smile unconsciously.
To sum it up, is there a Death in this world? He wasn't sure, but unless Death is literally standing in front of him, and he can't beat it, the question is irrelevant in practical terms, whether it's an Elder Wand, a Resurrection Stone, or an Invisibility Cloak, he generally just dismisses it as the work of an extremely skilled alchemist.
If he ever happens to come across them, he will borrow them to study for a while.
This also made him realize that there was really no need to dwell on the Elder Wand and the Death.
He also possessed crafting methods for creating a whole bunch of magical items such as philosopher's stone, Horcrux, etc., oh yes, and the time-turner. He had no shortage of time energy.
"If Death truly exists in this world, I would like you to appear in front of me and shatter my world views ..." muttered Felix in a small voice, but he soon changed his mind, "Well, it would be better if you appear a few years later when we can sit down and talk about magic."
On his way back, he heard movement behind him and turned to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione darting their way over from behind the pillar.
" Just in time, I was hoping to find you." He said to Harry.
"Professor," Harry gasped for breath, "we've heard some rumours and now everyone is speculating where the wand you're holding came from."
"You'd better clarify that, if you leave it alone the rumours will surely get worser and worser." Hermione added.
After the first two had finished their sentences, Ron could only nod his head hard when it was his turn.
" Well, so this is skipping right over the authenticity and defaulting to the fact that I possess the Elder Wand?" Felix chuckled and ended the sentence in an eerie tone, "Don't worry, someone will explain it for me, you guys wait until you read the latest paper. On the other hand, I'm curious to see what will happen next - whether they will choose to believe a story that sounds quite so-so, or whether they will want to know the truth at all 'cost'."
Harry and the group were literally frozen in place by these words. Felix followed up with, "I mean the dark wizards who are thinking some crooked ways."
The Golden Trio immediately smiled at that, "Ah, of course, what else could it be."
"Here, Harry, it's from Mr. Slughorn." Felix tossed the small vial with the Liquid Luck to Harry.
"Mr. Slughorn?" Harry caught the small vial and looked at the golden liquid inside, and shaking it casually, the gold-like droplets jumped like swimming fish. He asked in confusion, "What is this?"
Hermione covered her mouth, "Oh my god, oh my god."
"Felix Felicis." Felix replied.
Harry still didn't get it, he had spent most of his time in Potions class muddling through, he had low expectations of passing the class and the lower year's textbooks didn't contain an introduction to potions like Liquid Luck.
Felix looked at Hermione, giving her the task of explaining it would be a win-win for everyone.
"Felix Felicis. It has another name, Liquid Luck! It has the effect of bringing good luck and making whatever you do go smoothly." Hermione said, remembering that she had seen this rare potion in her second year in the Professor's collection - she had tried to get information about Polyjuice Potion at the time, but the Professor had pulled out several magical potions, including a vial of Liquid Luck, exactly the same as the one Harry is holding.
Unsurprisingly, Harry and Ron's eyes widened at the same time, and Harry felt the vial in his hand become so hot that he couldn't remember how he had taken it from the professor at all.
"That's correct," Felix nodded at Hermione before turning to Harry, "You can ask Miss Granger the dos and don'ts about this potion, besides, I would like to ask one more thing, you don't really think that a potion can change your luck, do you?"
Harry looked at him blankly, "Doesn't it?"
"Let me explain it like this," Felix said to them, "Have you ever had an experience such as this? Not performing well enough on some important occasion because you were nervous, and then being so remorseful afterwards that you felt you would have done better if you could do it all over again?"
The three of them pondered.
"I think like that after every exam." Ron muttered in a whisper, "Would a Liquid Luck will help?"
Felix chuckled, "If you've never been exposed to that part of knowledge before, it's rather limited in what it can do. The Liquid Luck will stimulate your hidden potential, making you sharper and more precise in your judgement, as if you had everything under control ... so you can easily do things you would not normally dare to imagine, but the truth is, you already had such potential."
Harry looked at the potion in his hand, the enthusiasm in his heart gradually subsiding.
"So, what you wanted to say is Liquid Luck is a luck potion, by definition, not a wishing potion." Harry asked.
Felix smiled and nodded his head.
Harry's eyes suddenly widened, "Wait, then Professor, doesn't your thinking room-" have a similar effect? He was well aware that a sub-function of this magic is thought acceleration, which sounded similar to the effect of a Liquid Luck.
"Ah," Felix smiled, "don't you know? Magic spells and magic potions can be used as a substitute for each other, so in a way, you're right about that part." Like his name suggested, he could always make 'luck' come to him, as well.
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