A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Belby looked at him in confusion. "Are you planning to make me go back to the drawing board?"

"Let's find a place to sit down and talk, how about the three brooms from Hogsmeade?" Felix suggested.

"No problem." Belby said a few words to his younger brother and quickly came over.

Snape had already left, so the two used Apparition to go directly to the entrance of the Three Broomsticks tavern.

"It was a fantastic experience, Felix. I didn't even feel any discomfort," Belby exclaimed. "I usually don't use it when I'm traveling alone, unless absolutely necessary..."

Felix and Belby entered the tavern. It was the weekend, and there were small groups of young Hogwarts wizards sitting inside, mostly couples. They were also surprised to see Professor Hyp and a stranger walk in.

"Is that Professor Hyp's friend?" Kremi Vera wondered to herself, while the girl next to her stared at the two of them curiously.

Felix chose a corner seat, and Mrs. Rosmerta came over to write down their order. The food was delivered in less than a minute.

"A glass of low-alcohol mead."

"A glass of pear and lemon liqueur."

She turned and left.

Felix tapped the table, and the surrounding noise immediately subsided.

"Felix, what's this?"

"It's best if the young wizards don't know about our conversation." Felix pointed to a spot not far away where several young wizards were curiously peering in, and he even saw a few familiar faces.

Next, Felix recounted his experience as the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts officer.

"Oh, I see... I hadn't been paying much attention to this," Belby said.

"There's something I must remind you of, regarding the rumors that this course is cursed..." Felix omitted Voldemort's presence, using a powerful wizard to represent the source of the curse.

"Hmm..." Belby hesitated. "According to you, I only need to teach for about half a year, so the curse won't affect me?"

"Judging from the experience of the past few decades, that is indeed the case. The vast majority of wizards who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts are still alive and well, except for a few—"

"But they all have their reasons. Damocles, you are an excellent wizard, and the time you spend teaching is shorter, so the danger is almost negligible."

Felix said sincerely, "Hogwarts has the largest collection of books in the world, which I think will be of great use to you at this stage."

He made this suggestion precisely because they were friends; he knew how obsessed Damocles was with potions and how extensive Hogwarts' library was.

In some ways, they are the same kind of people, both climbing the mountain of magic.

Belby's eyes lit up immediately. "Indeed... I've spent over a decade researching wolfsbane medicine, and what has bothered me most is the lack of similar research data."

Potions masters are a group of relatively reclusive wizards who have less time for socializing. This is related to the nature of potions—it takes one or two months to brew a potion, and if you want to make improvements, you have to conduct at least hundreds of experiments.

His mind started to wander, and he might spend half a year recharging himself—the word "recharging" was something he learned from the Muggle world.

Moreover, there is a Potions Master at Hogwarts that you can talk to;

Add to that the allure of the Forbidden Forest and Mrs. Sprout's Greenhouse...

"If I agree to teach, do you have any suggestions, Felix?" Belby asked, already tempted.

Felix thought for a moment and said, "I suggest you prepare some magical defensive items—I can provide them to you. No, no, there's no need to be nervous. I just tend to deal with problems proactively." He looked at Belby's expression and added.

"Secondly, when you communicate with Dumbledore, you can ask him more about the course, especially those wizards who have served as Defense Against the Dark Arts professors—what are they doing now? You can even visit some of them."

"Finally, prepare your lessons in advance; the level of the young wizards at Hogwarts might surprise you."

Belby smiled. "I also graduated from Hogwarts, Felix. I know my level back then."

……

That same day, Felix told Dumbledore about it.

"So, we'll soon have an excellent professor?" Dumbledore's face lit up with surprise. "To be honest, I was just about to send out the recruitment letter."

"Headmaster Dumbledore, Belby is only somewhat interested, and you still need to communicate with him in detail. I won't get involved in this. But—he's one of the few friends I can talk to, and I hope you can guarantee his safety."

Dumbledore looked at Felix with his deep blue eyes and smiled gently, saying, "Of course."

For the next few days, Felix paid little attention to the matter. He went about his studies, attending classes, answering questions, and researching magic as usual.

This rhythmic lifestyle blurred his sense of time.

A week passed quickly.

On a sunny afternoon, the snow on the castle began to melt, and water trickled down the eaves.

The Weasley twins cornered him after class.

The two men chuckled and took out two coins. Felix took them, and he couldn't help but suspect that they had ruined the "Fever Nat".

But to his surprise, the coin was intact and even had some extra parts.

Felix stroked the copper nut in his hand, looking at the twins, who returned his sly gaze.

"Is this a test for me?"

He sensed the magic contained within, and after a dozen seconds, he pinched one of the coins and poured magic into it. The other copper nut quickly became scorching hot, and its surface became uneven.

Felix examined the coin closely. Several initials appeared on the shockingly hot surface. He tried to decipher them and found that the most fitting sentence was—

"Filch's coming, get out of here!"

Felix: "...Is this your nighttime parade equipment?"

“Uh, Professor Hyp,” Fred said, “don’t you think this is a good emergency item—it could be useful when Aurors raid the magical black market, for example, to patch up gaps in the defenses or something.”

"Or it could be a secret code between couples, with the words just randomly filled in," George said.

Ha ha.

Felix would never believe that they originally developed this thing to facilitate nighttime travel.

And what's this about a magic black market... I think you're subtly criticizing me.

However—their thinking is very broad, and the two scenarios they mentioned do indeed have some feasibility.

"So, what is the purpose of your visit?" he asked.

"Professor Haip, we've encountered some difficulties—for example, the words on the coins are fixed, and we can't change them."

"The coin itself is too small; it can't hold anything."

"Yes, we hope to develop a gadget for two-way communication, like a two-way mirror, of course—"

"—Lower cost!"

"—Even simpler to make!"

They looked at Professor Hyp with eager anticipation, hoping he could answer their questions.

In the past few years, the twins have researched and developed some of the prank props themselves, but many of their ideas could not be implemented and had to be shelved.

Fortunately, Professor Hyp promised that they could ask him for help at any time.

After the twins finished speaking, Felix fell into deep thought, standing motionless in place.

A few minutes later—

The two men exchanged a glance, and Fred said somewhat nervously, "You just need to give us a little hint..."