A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Soon, Professor Snape strode in, his wand waving as he slammed the windows shut and the curtains drawn, enveloping the entire classroom in a somber and gloomy atmosphere. The young wizards instantly fell silent.

Hermione immediately closed her book and focused on the lesson.

After finishing their first herbal medicine class in the afternoon, all three of them were exhausted. They rushed to the cafeteria for their open class. The cafeteria (auditorium) had been completely changed. The four long tables had been moved to a corner, and in the middle was a circular platform, about twenty feet in diameter and three feet high.

"What is that?" Ron asked.

"Maybe it's where the professor is standing? There are quite a lot of people here today." Harry looked around and wow, most of the students in the school were here, including quite a few first and second-year wizards.

Is he really that popular? Is he going to be another Lockhart? Harry muttered to himself.

Harry was only thinking it to himself, but Ron had already spoken it aloud, muttering, "Not another Lockhart, is it?"

"No, that's not true. I've met Professor Hyp, and his Silent Charm is excellent! And Professor Lockhart, he, he..." Hermione stammered.

"What curse?" Harry didn't hear clearly.

"Silent spells are spells that some particularly powerful wizards can cast without chanting, making it especially convenient to cast curses on people," Ron explained.

Both of them ignored the little witch's opinion of Lockhart.

Is there any need to discuss this issue anymore?

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron.

Harry thought about it a step further: so this professor sounded pretty good? He felt even more excited for the upcoming open lecture.

Actually, neither he nor Ron wanted to come. What did it have to do with them? Hermione dragged them here. According to her, "In our third year, we're choosing courses, so isn't it necessary to learn about an elective beforehand?"

Hermione also wanted to see how well Felix taught, but she had already read Felix's book, "Ancient Rune Exploration," which gave her plenty of confidence in the new professor.

Yes, just like the confidence in Professor Lockhart.

Ten minutes later, some students arrived, and several professors also came to join in the fun. It seemed that this was not a class, but a large party.

Harry caught sight of Lockhart and quickly lowered his head to avoid the gaze of the professor who was at the center of the "controversy".

Running into him never brings good things!

He had been suffering these past few days, and the source of his suffering was threefold: Quidditch training, Lockhart, and that freshman named Colin Crevy.

Apart from Quidditch training, which was both painful and pleasurable for him, he avoided the other two training methods whenever possible!

At the appointed time, Felix appeared. He wore a light blue robe—the same color as his eyes—his hair was slightly slicked back, and he smiled, looking about seventeen or eighteen years old.

You really look like Lockhart!

Many younger students whispered to themselves that they were truly terrified of this outfit.

Felix weaved through the crowd, leaped lightly, and landed on the platform. He held his wand, looked around, and the crowd gradually quieted down.

In Harry's eyes, the professor drew a mysterious symbol with his wand, and the next moment, his voice reached his ears. The volume was not loud, but it was very clear, as if the professor was speaking right next to him.

"Let's begin class."

Felix looked at the young wizards below the stage. "I, Felix Heap, am currently the professor of Ancient Runes." He waved his wand, outlining his name.

Then he asked the first question.

Does anyone know what ancient runes are?

brush!

Hermione instinctively raised her hand, and before she could react, her body had already moved on its own.

"Miss Granger," Felix nodded to her.

Hermione began, "Ancient runes, also known as ancient spelling, are a script used by wizards hundreds of years ago. Ancient wizards used it to record magic, and therefore, modern wizards mainly study how to translate these magical manuscripts. However, ancient runes were also one of the sources of power for ancient wizards."

The last sentence was added by her after reading "Exploring Ancient Magical Script".

"Very good, Gryffindor gets 5 points."

Felix began to recount the history and evolution of ancient runes, moving quickly as he considered these things unimportant, or at least unimportant to him.

The young wizards couldn't remember either.

"You only need to remember one thing: Ancient runes are a bridge that connects ancient magic with modern magic, and at the same time, it also connects ancient alchemy with modern alchemy."

Seeing the young wizards below the stage buzzing with discussion, Felix nodded in satisfaction.

"But Professor, why is it that all we learn is how to translate ancient runes?" a Ravenclaw senior girl asked, raising her hand.

Felix looked at her: "There are two main reasons."

"The first reason, primarily based on translation, is indeed the mainstream view in the current magical world."

"In my view, ancient runes can be divided into two parts: ancient script and runes. The former is a kind of script used by ancient wizards, and the latter is a kind of power wielded by ancient wizards—it's just that over the long course of history, they have become intertwined, making it difficult for later generations to distinguish between them."

"The former represents the mainstream view. They take it upon themselves to inherit and study ancient magical manuscripts, which is indeed very useful. You know, most of our knowledge about ancient wizards comes from these people."

"This route is relatively easy to get started with, and even you can do it now."

"However, it is extremely difficult to directly grasp the power of ancient wizards through ancient runes. Not only do you need to have excellent magical skills, but you also need to have excellent research abilities."

The young wizards understood only vaguely, but grasped the general idea. It involved studying ancient runes, which actually had two branches. One focused on translation, its advantage being its ease of entry and minimal requirements on the wizard's personal abilities—even a Squib could do it. However, truly understanding it required a significant investment of time.

The magical world is full of old wizards who have spent decades researching and eventually become completely confused themselves.

Another branch focuses on mastering the power of ancient wizards, which is difficult to get started with. If you are not an elite and a top student, you should give up on this idea as soon as possible.

Felix paused for a moment to give everyone time to process the information, then smiled and said, "Back to the previous question, as for the second reason—it's not on the exam."

The young wizards were suddenly speechless; this reason was quite compelling.

"However, I personally believe..." Felix said, "that letting you get a little exposure to the practical application of ancient runes will effectively motivate your enthusiasm for this course."

"Are you going to teach us ancient magic?" one of the twins shouted.

Felix shook his head. "No, ancient magic is known for its power and difficulty in taming, and I have no intention of teaching you that. Besides, my research in this area is still in its infancy."

"Alright! That concludes the theoretical section. As this is a public lecture, I won't be covering too much specialized knowledge—"

"Next, it's demonstration time."