"We have learned a series of related concepts, such as rune symbols, rune circuits, rune sequences -" Felix said as he allowed the concepts he mentioned to manifest.
Individual fire rune, transformed between a throbbing golden-red glyph and a ball of flame;
The rune circuit, which was just demonstrated and capable of reducing weight, swayed gently in the wind as it resembled an embellished wind chime;
And finally, a golden, hollow spherical structure appeared, its surface hollowed out and carved with a multitude of rune symbols, its composition so detailed that it resembled a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, or perhaps they were originally one and the same. Harry suddenly thought of a scene of Hermione's cat Crookshanks playing with a ball of wool.
"- Can anyone outline the differences between them for us on a higher level?"
The question was obviously somewhat difficult, and even Hermione bit her lip, struggling to think of an answer without raising her hand immediately as she usually did.
"No one?" Felix glanced around the classroom," I'll give everyone a few minutes to think."
The students took this time to move around slightly. Harry pressed his body against the back of his seat and stared at the golden orb of runes, all his mind could think of was how it might suddenly start to function and suck every student in the classroom into it one by one. ... Just a few years ago, hundreds of Dementors were sucked into this small, rapidly spinning orb without any resistance in front of his eyes, followed by a clutch of a palm, they all with a "puff" combusted at once ...
Harry's consciousness snapped back instantly.
"Time's up." Felix said, looking down at the students, who were dodging his gaze frequently, at which point Hermione hesitantly raised her hand. "Very well - Miss Granger?" The other students breathed a sigh of relief as if they had been brought back to life.
Hermione stood up.
"I think it should be 'integrity'?" She replied in a rare tone of uncertainty.
"Expand on that." Felix said encouragingly, and his blue eyes blinked and Hermione, who had been gazing at the professor's face realized she had got it right, she ran the somewhat vague idea through her brain and said in a very slow tone.
"If you compare ancient rune to the modern spell system, then a complete rune sequence and a spell should be equivalent in rank, they are both complete magic. For example, Illumination and 'Lumos'." Hermione went on as she thought for a moment, "although the two are very different in terms of difficulty."
"If the above holds true, then the structure of the rune below the rune sequence is like a broken spell, unable to stand on its own. In fact, from what we have learned in the past, a rune circuit must be carved into a tangible carrier in order to exist, usually with the help of a carving knife and a piece of chestnut wood ... while individual runes are more distinct."
"Individual runes, circuits, sequences ... It is a process of continuous refinement until one can acquire a Book of Runes -"
Hermione paused, stopping her speech.
She suddenly wondered about one thing - why hadn't ancient magic been popularized in ancient times? Why was it eventually replaced? Apart from the merits of the modern magic system itself, a crucial factor was that there was little research done on the first two (i.e. individual runes and rune circuits), and all young wizards had to start with the dangerous ancient magic as soon as they started. It is possible that the first challenge they faced in life would have been trying to master the complete rune sequence without any basic knowledge in the field.
And what the professor did, in fact, was bringing down the learning threshold of the whole system.
"Not bad, Gryffindor plus twenty points." Felix said briskly, "Now you have learned the first law of runes: the law of integrity. Why don't you guys write it down?"
The students bowed their heads and jotted down notes as Felix paced between them.
"Let me add that the modern spell system, the African legacy of gestures and ritual spellcasting system, and the rune spellcasting system are all essentially a flexible way to use magic." Felix let specific rune visualizations appear at his fingertips one by one, such as a flame, a stream of water, and a soft light.
"The difference is that-"
"Ancient magic uses an individual rune as the literal spellcasting element, like an incantation in a modern system, or a dance step in an old African magic system, only the process of mobilizing and combining magic is on the outside, so we can feel it intuitively. ... we used to think of an individual rune symbol as a simple spell, which is not quite wrong because the process of manifestation of magic is accompanied by magic and will."
"It's just that individual runes have limited powers."
The students below exchanged glances with excitement. If they had to say which part of the class had been the most interesting recently, it was the part where Professor Hap introduced them to traditional African magic - it was a memorable sight to see the normally unsmiling professor swinging his arms wide and bouncing from side to side.
It felt as if the ever-serious Professor McGonagall had spread her hair and danced a rhythmic samba.
"Let me demonstrate."
Hundreds of colourful ancient runes appeared in the air, and they danced together in pairs, eventually becoming a dozen or so circuits of varying shapes and sizes.
"Does it look familiar?" Felix asked with mild expectation.
"A magic golem." Neville whispered.
"Good," Felix smiled, "these are the rune circuits used on magic golems, we used to use alchemical materials as carriers, but actually ..." Felix pulled out a small vial, from which dark golden smoke poured out, which gathered together and gradually solidified into a human figure.
The rune circuits that floated in mid-air swirled and appeared on the arms, joints, thighs, calves, and torso of the Smoke Man. Then, suddenly, the Smoke Man's arm lit up with light.
A ball of flame whistled over the student's head and disappeared at the last second before hitting the wall.
"Transfiguration smoke," Felix shook the empty vial in his hand, "your senior Cedric Diggory sent it to me, I guess he wanted me to advertise it but was too embarrassed to say it outright, he also sent a copy to Professors McGonagall and Sprout... . Anyway, it's quite practical."
As the crowd watched with rapt attention, Felix waved his hand again. The transfiguration smoke changed from its human form to a golden eagle about three feet long, which flew around the classroom, throwing a ball of flame from its talons. The students screamed and dodged, but the flame was extinguished by Professor Hap before it could fall.
When the class ended, the students below looked like they had just finished fighting a battle.
"Today's homework ... you have heard a lot of fresh concepts that I think will inspire you, so record those ideas, even if it's just a few words. Let your imagination run wild! Magic relies on these things."
After class, Harry, Ron, and Hermione moped around and stayed behind.
As soon as Felix took a look at them, he knew what was going on, and he asked, "What do you want to ask about?"
Ron and Hermione glanced over at Harry, who stammered out what he had seen at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, highlighting the appearance and dress of the old woman who had spoken to Daphne, and then the three of them saw Professor Hap fall into silence.
Harry was jittery, he wanted the professor to realize that something was wrong with that woman, but also didn't want to involve Professor Bagshot in it.
"Professor, do you think she might have-"
"Are you trying to say that Miss Greengrass is under a spell?" Felix asked with a smile, "It's a real possibility, I'm going to the hospital wing to have a look, why don't you ... come along?"
"Sure." Harry instantly said.
At the hospital wing, Daphne was happily munching on an apple as she gauged the time. That's when she heard footsteps, and she hurriedly lay down, pulling the covers over her head and squeezing her eyes shut. After doing this, she realized something was wrong... there were too many footsteps!
Even if Madam Pomfrey had come with her sister, there couldn't have been such a messy sound of footsteps. Had someone else come to visit her?
The door was pushed open slightly. She pricked up her ears and was surprised to find that one of them is Professor Hap.
"How is she?" Felix asked Madam Pomfrey.
"It will take two more days, and there is a risk of getting lost and not being able to find her own dormitory if she is discharged now ... haven't seen such carelessness, oh, you have to be counted, Miss Granger, isn't it? I remember when you were in the second year-"
"Madam Pomfrey!" Hermione screamed.
Second year? Daphne, who is hiding under the cover, repeated mentally, and then a furry cat's head came to her mind.
"Pfft!" She giggled in delight.
There was a sudden silence in the sick bay for a moment.
Daphne lay stiffly on the hospital bed, not daring to open her eyes at all, but her face became so hot and burning that it seemed to drip blood. She felt sure she had been caught pretending to be asleep, and she hated that she could not really pass out. But luckily it didn't take long for the conversation to start again.
"Ahem, I heard it was an accidental intake of scurvy grass?" Professor Hap asked in a slightly disoriented voice.
"Yes, I heard it was to make a drink, and she thought it was powdered parsley ... It's quite easy to tell the two apart, and I bet she's very lousy in Herbology." Madam Pomfrey's voice came closer, and then the sound of the potion filling the cup was heard at the head of the bed.
"Is it possible that it was something else, like a Confundus Charm?"
A Confundus Charm? Daphne under the covers froze, she had been under a Confundus Charm?
"Felix, this is not a joking matter! A normal Confundus Charm doesn't have this symptom ..." Madam Pomfrey said uneasily, not even noticing the potion spilling out, "Her sister found a packet of scurvy grass powder in her pocket, and she herself . . Oh dear, I-I should better check once more."
"Wake up, little girl."
Daphne stretched in a feigned manner, her eyes opening with a blank expression as she asked, "What's wrong?" Then she was taken aback as the hospital bed was surrounded by a circle of Harry, Ron, and Hermione who were staring straight at her, with Hermione holding her arms together with a smirking expression and Professor Hap sitting alone and playing with his fingernails with his head down.
"Your face is very red, did you have a bad dream?" Hermione asked knowingly.
Daphne huffed and said nothing, grabbing the glass and downing it with a "gulp" - "Hey, no." Madam Pomfrey called out - and choked. Her face turned even redder.
"Miss Greengrass, your classmate Potter told me something, and I have some questions on my mind." Felix said, "Do you remember the person ... you met with that day at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop?"
"She's my aunt!" Daphne blurted out.
"On second thought, think about her looks, her age, which of your aunts would she match up with?"
"I ..." Daphne's expression suddenly became anguished, and she rubbed her forehead, "I remember ..."
Felix jerked one finger up and whispered, "Finite." Daphne's body shook as if cold water had been poured over her, then she looked around her in some confusion.
"Now do you remember that aunt?"
"What aunt? I don't even have an aunt! Oh, Merlin, that wretched old woman!" Daphne screamed. "Do you remember what happened that day?" Felix asked.
" That day ... I went to Hogsmeade Village with Astoria, and she kept clamouring about going to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to stock up, and when I didn't agree, she ran off without me! I was so angry and then ... then I felt someone tap me from behind, and it was that woman!" She said with sudden anger, "I turned around - the woman said she was my aunt, I didn't suspect anything at all and followed her into the tea shop, and she asked me to bring something -"
Felix stood up.
"It's already obvious that with the fall of Voldemort, security measures around the school have dropped, after all, you can't keep it tight all the time. Miss Greengrass, I suggest you talk to Headmaster Dumbledore, and he will make arrangements to put an end to such things. You can postpone your homework for today and hand it in later."
Harry chased after him.
"Professor," he said under his breath, "that woman is clearly up to no good."
Felix didn't say anything, trying to explain the origins of 'Nicole Noel' would inevitably involve Grindelwald, and his identity is confidential.
"What kind of man do you think Professor Bagshot is?"
"What kind of man?" Harry repeated suspiciously, and said with a smile, "He's quite nice." Mentally, he wondered if the professor suspected that this incident had something to do with Professor Bagshot, Harry had actually thought about it, but Professor Bagshot seemed to have no intention of hiding it, after all, he had even told his secret about him being an Acolyte ...
"Even though he detained you for a petty reason?"
"What - er, yeah, it wasn't really a detention, we just talked about the magic and essay I wrote recently." Harry said.
"Essays and magic." Felix laughed and turned to leave, leaving a dazed Harry behind.
As far as Felix knew, Grindelwald would be sent back to Nurmengard Castle to continue his sentence after teaching this year's class; as far as that old man was concerned, it wasn't like him to work for nothing; he must have an agenda of his own. Now that he considered it, it seemed that he wanted Harry to inherit part of his ideology.
It is just unknown if he had only picked Harry, or if there might be more candidates.
When the lights went out at night, Felix sat behind his desk and read the letter from Percy, in which he wrote in an excited tone that, thanks to his efforts, seven ministries of magic had agreed to introduce exclusive wands in small numbers, but there are still many countries that have concerns about the impact on their societies if the squibs master the power to cast spells. At the end of the letter, Percy said he would "keep up the good work."
Felix put the letter down and stared at the ceiling, fully aware of the more comprehensive information.
To be precise, only seven ministries of magic had agreed to introduce exclusive wands 'on the surface', but in secret Future World had received a large number of international orders. According to Remus's analysis, it was those officials who "hadn't yet thought about accepting the squib group, but that didn't stop them from secretly stockpiling a batch as a backup."
Felix yawned as the hour hand of the wall clock pointed to twelve. There is another set of pocket office desk on his large desk, and Valen sits in the same type of armchair as Felix and yawns along with him.
Valen rubbed her eyes and looked up from a children's book called Little Pig of Peace.
At that moment, a crisp bird's song came from Felix's left-hand drawer, which he pulled open and a small bright emerald-green bird hopped out with a thick sheet of parchment map in its mouth, which Felix spread out and gazed at the moving ink dots on it.
"Tonight is quite lively." Felix smiled and said to Valen who had come over, "How did Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Ginny ... get together? Huh, there's another one over here, Leonhard Bagshot. I can kind of figure out why Dumbledore wanted a Marauder's Map, apart from the surveillance role, he would have preferred not to have the name 'Grindelwald' on the map, that would make the cues too obvious ..."
"Valen, which side do you suggest would be more fun for us to join?"
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