A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 699 The Man in the Painting

The dragon flapped its wings with delight, rising higher and higher, letting out excited panting sounds.

"You want to fly?" Felix muttered to himself on the dragon's back. "Then fly, I'll show you the way."

His words were conveyed to the dragon beneath him in a peculiar way. The dragon let out a triumphant roar high in the sky, then flapped its wings, bathed in the golden light above the clouds, and flew towards Hogwarts Castle.

Meanwhile, the wizards in Diagon Alley were still trying to figure out what had happened.

A few minutes earlier, a huge hole suddenly exploded in the roof of Gringotts. The enormous roar instantly attracted the attention of half the street. They all turned their gazes and witnessed a scarred old dragon crawling out of the hole. First, it poked its head out, then its bloodied wings and claws wrapped in chains. The dragon lay on the roof, tilted its head back, and remained still for a few seconds, like a strange, giant decoration.

Fred and George stood on the second floor of the Weasleys Wizarding Arts and looked out in surprise.

"Is that the dragon guarding the treasury? I've always wanted to see it with my own eyes."

"Oh, come on, our vault isn't worthy of being guarded by a dragon—wow! It looks really cool, how about we rent the Fire Dragon Magic Lamp from Lupin?" one of them suggested.

“I like the idea,” another similar voice said. “It has to be over twenty feet tall. I remember Professor Hyp demonstrated it at the Quidditch World Cup and haven’t seen it since. It’s such a waste.”

More than thirty Aurors appeared; they had been waiting nearby, but none of them made a move. The dragon raised its head and breathed out a ball of fire, causing the people in the street to scream in terror as they stumbled and ran away, fearing they would be caught in the blast. But the dragon stomped its foot hard, using the momentum to spread its blood-stained wings and take flight. It soared higher and higher until it became a black dot.

Not long after, Ms. Burns emerged from inside, unharmed, and calmly directed the Aurors to take over the scene.

The large hole in Gringotts' roof was quickly repaired, and Ms. Burns turned back as if nothing had happened, except that two more Aurors had appeared at the entrance of Gringotts Bank.

Fred and George withdrew their satisfied gazes and descended the stairs. The shop was overflowing with a dazzling array of goods, filled with noisy, moving trinkets, but now it was deserted—all the customers had gone to see the spectacle. The two looked out the window through the posters on the windowsill, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke at the same time.

"Joint Announcement from the Ministry of Magic and the Future World—"

"What do you think of that notice—"

The two blinked and laughed.

Early this morning, Ministry of Magic staff delivered a notice to every shop in Diagon Alley, inviting all shop owners to Sword Keep this weekend to discuss important matters. However, they already knew the inside story. Penelope (the twins now adore her, affectionately calling her "Percy's Explorer") revealed that Percy had been busy finalizing a lengthy report about the future of the wizarding world and trade plans with Muggles, covering a wide range of goods including potions, books, magical items, clothing, and food.

This is a massive project involving many aspects, with so many details and minutiae that it could overwhelm a first-time reader.

"This matter involves Future World Corporation, so I asked Lupin to take charge of this part of the work," Penelope said irritably. "Otherwise, I might not see your brother for years... Oh, and what am I doing now? Finding fault with his report, of course!"

"Clearly, she's enjoying it," Fred concluded.

Since the wizard-Muggle negotiations haven't really started yet, this is only the first step in the whole plan.

Outside the Weasleys Magic Tricks shop, Tonks, Ron, and Collins followed several guests in, chatting and laughing.

"The alert mission has been cancelled," Tonks said amiably, her pink hair radiating joy. "Everyone was worried before. Scrinker tried to dissuade Ms. Burns from taking the risk, but she insisted... Fortunately, it turned out well." She then looked around with great interest.

"What's with the dragon?" Fred asked.

"They said it was an accident, or that it had been in disrepair for years or something," Ron said.

"That doesn't sound very convincing," George said.

"They couldn't possibly have been fighting in there, could they?" Ron shrugged, pulled a Wizard's Chess piece from his pocket, and twirled it between his fingers.

Fred raised an eyebrow.

"If I were to inspect the Dancing Wizard Chess set in the shop now, wouldn't I find a knight missing?"

"Go ahead and look," Ron said. "Oh, by the way, I was just about to say that I've mastered Animagus... Did Ginny tattle on me?"

"You've mastered Animagus?" Collins asked in surprise.

Tonks was a beat slow, reluctantly turning her gaze away from the doll that was hitting people, and asked as if to confirm, "Animagus?" Her hair began to transition to a dazzling violet color.

"It's pretty easy," Ron said, feigning nonchalance.

“That’s a fair assessment,” George nodded. “Just from the people I know…” He turned to Fred, “How many? Harry, Hermione, Neville, the Abbott girls, I can’t even count them all.”

"I don't know either, but Cedric has been glued to 'Transfiguration Today' a lot lately," Fred replied with a straight face.

Ron's hair, which had been swept up, drooped down.

"Can you guys stop undermining your own brother?" Ron muttered as Tonks and Collins enthusiastically picked out items from the store.

Fred and George exchanged a glance and said in unison, "Sorry—no."

Ron held up the wizard chess pieces in his hand and muttered, "See these two guys? Remember their awful faces. I'll get my revenge sooner or later, and it's all up to you."

……

The dragon flew north, savoring its hard-won freedom. Felix stood on its broad back, quickly healing the dragon's bloody wounds with magic, shaving off its chains, and then gazing at the distant clouds.

He stroked the long spikes on the dragon's back with one hand, looking like a captain holding onto the mast.

"Fly more steadily," he commanded.

They flew over gray and green towns and fields, the scenery soon becoming monotonous and repetitive. Felix called Niffler out of his silver pocket watch to play cards. Having experienced riding a flying carpet in the Arctic, Valen quickly adapted, excitedly running around on the dragon's back, the huge spikes appearing as pillars to him.

"You lost again, Valen," Felix said smugly.

Valen's dark eyes stared at the air in front of him. The Niffler phantom conjured from the Wizard's Card was blasted away by a simple, unadorned spell, tumbling a dozen times before turning into a wisp of smoke and being left behind. It clicked its tongue, sensing something was amiss, and looked at Felix suspiciously.

"I didn't cheat," Felix swore.

Valen frantically swiped through his deck, trying to find a weakness. It was a new deck, with some new cards added to the original, which the Great Demon King said was to increase the playability. That was true; Valen found quite a few cards that shimmered with gold when their effects were activated, and he particularly liked them.

However, after that, its win rate plummeted.

"Chirp!"

Unable to figure out the reason himself, Valen decided to ask Hermione when he had the chance. The sun's altitude dropped again, the golden light on the clouds gradually dimmed, and the dragon began to descend. Valen ran to the top of the dragon's head, but his weight was like a feather, having no effect on the dragon at all.

Valen spotted a cluster of majestic castle buildings amidst the mountains.

Felix patted the dragon's back. "Your identity is a bit sensitive. Well, it's not really anything, but to avoid trouble, I'll put on a cover for you before sending you to Charlie."

The dragon roared, indicating that it understood.

I will listen to you.

Then its size began to shrink rapidly. Valen hurriedly ran back, climbed onto Felix's shoulder and looked down. The dragon, which was as big as a small square, had shrunk from sixty or seventy feet long to half its original size, and soon it was even difficult to put its feet down.

The dragon let out two whimpers and tried to open its murky eyes wide.

"Don't worry," Felix said casually from the air beside it, then gave the command, "Fold your wings."

The dragon—it could hardly be called a dragon anymore; it looked only twice the size of Valen. The shrunken dragon obediently folded its wings and then plummeted straight down, only to be caught by Felix. With its wings folded, it looked even smaller, almost pitiful.

Felix plummeted downwards, and as he reached a certain height, he made several gestures with his free hand. Hogwarts' defenses did not stop him, and he continued to fall.

Inside the castle, Professor McGonagall was flipping through documents. She had just contacted Mrs. Maxim, and the two exchanged information about their respective schools' defense measures and opening dates. The British Ministry of Magic had been making a series of moves recently, and as a reference, the French and some European Ministries of Magic had also begun to bypass the International Confederation of Wizards and contact Muggle governments.

She heard a knock on the window, and when she looked up, she saw Felix waving at her from outside the window.

"You're the vice principal now, Felix." Professor McGonagall angrily pushed open the window, glaring at him as he crawled in from outside. Warren had already jumped down first, keeping a safe distance from Felix; he didn't want to get scolded along with him.

Professor McGonagall led Felix over, saying angrily as they walked, "...What if someone sees us? And what are you holding?"

"A lizard," Felix said calmly, spitting two sparks from the dragon's nostrils.

Professor McGonagall ignored his ramblings and lowered her head to examine the creature that was half-lying on the small table, flapping its wings blankly. Then her eyebrows furrowed tightly together.

"Is this... a dragon? Or the Iron Belly of Ukraine?"

"Well, if anyone else asks, I'll just say it's a mutated lizard, and its origins are a bit questionable," Felix said honestly. Professor McGonagall glared at him, determined to get an answer. "Alright, it came from Gringotts," he explained simply.

Professor McGonagall frowned at first, then her eyebrows relaxed.

"The Fairy Brotherhood, yet another secretly operating fairy subversive group?" The so-called subversion, of course, refers to the subversion of wizards.

“Not really,” Felix shook his head. “At least they operate openly, and the ideologies they promote don’t condone violence, at least not on the surface.” He told Professor McGonagall, “That’s quite rare among fairies.”

Cross-eyed Bodrick didn't want the peace talks to go smoothly and deliberately wanted the dragon guarding the vault to cause some trouble. Of course, he didn't care if a few wizards died in the process; they were all accidents anyway. Felix didn't care either.

Professor McGonagall was not involved in the Ministry of Magic's affairs, and after learning that it would not affect the negotiations with the goblins, she turned to other matters.

"Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are in a similar situation to us. Their Ministry of Magic is in secret contact with the Muggle government, and the news hasn't been made public," she glanced at Felix and smiled slightly. "What you did the other day has affected not only British decision-making but also other countries."

Felix nodded; this result was as expected.

As the first Ministry of Magic to publicly contact the Muggle government, Hogwarts and the British Ministry of Magic attracted worldwide attention, with the International Confederation of Wizards watching their every move and awaiting the outcome of the first formal negotiation.

If acceptable, the upcoming negotiations could become a benchmark for communication between the magical and non-magical worlds. Felix has met with numerous observers from other countries at the Ministry of Magic these past few days.

"In addition, Vagado took inspiration from Hogwarts and established sanctuaries around the school where some wizards whose identities had been exposed temporarily resided."

"Are they those semi-public mediums, fortune tellers, and occult sects?"

"I've heard that even Muggles who do magic tricks are getting a lot of harassment," Professor McGonagall said strangely. "There are also some wizards who stay in tribes, where it's relatively exclusive and outsiders can't get in. The Castor School of Magic in Brazil is hidden in the rainforest, where conditions are harsh, so we don't need to worry about it for now."

"Where's Iphamoni? You missed that school."

“Evermony is different from other schools.” Professor McGonagall’s face showed a hint of worry. “The living conditions for wizards are not optimistic—you know, young wizards always show some differences, and the local Muggles—they call them Muggles—have even started a campaign to find wizards around them…” She shook her head. “Some companies openly advertise in the newspapers to recruit wizards; of course, there are also those who oppose it. All kinds of organizations, large and small, and religious groups have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, some registered and some operating in secret.”

"Therefore, the Magical Congress of the United States had to order the recall of all students to prevent any accidents."

Felix pondered for a moment. "The problem of American wizards is difficult to solve, and now is not the time. We should wait until Amelia reaches a preliminary agreement with the Muggle government before promoting it under the name of the International Wizarding Federation—the Federation's significance has largely disappeared with the complete invalidation of the Secret Law, so we must find a new reason for it."

"What function do you want it to perform?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"The shift is from a clandestine wizarding world to one that reconciles the relationship between wizards and non-wizards, and that involves developing globally applicable regulations," Felix said.

A hint of confusion flashed in Professor McGonagall's eyes. She felt unfamiliar with that future. She glanced at the dragon struggling to adapt to its new form, and the confusion in her eyes gradually disappeared, replaced by determination.

Felix's gaze shifted to the portraits of past headmasters on the wall of the office. He walked to a gold-framed portrait in which Dumbledore winked at him.

"Can you say a witty remark or two that I haven't heard before?" Felix asked.

"This kind of test won't do," Dumbledore said with a smile in the portrait. "There are too many ways to get away with it."

Felix looked him over. "Yes, would you like me to add a candy store to your painting?"

Dumbledore laughed again. "Oh, no need. The little fellows at Hogwarts—the students of the Magical Painting Club—drew a huge Hogsmeade scroll, featuring not only Honeyduke but also Lady Partridge's Tea House and the Three Broomsticks. That painting hangs in the Prize Room."

Felix nodded, then thought for a moment and spoke.

"...The Resurrection Stone was destroyed after you left. What you gave to Snape is still in his hands. He has a new job and may be busy for more than ten years."

Dumbledore said with a hint of distress, "So, Severus's retirement plans have to be postponed?" But his expression was not sincere; he even looked somewhat gloating.

"I think so," Felix said.

“There’s one more thing,” he said. “Aberforth is planning to sell the Hog’s Head, and once school starts, Room Seven and the Chamber of Secrets in Slytherin will reopen. Both of those places need to be kept under control.”

"I hope he can sell the bar for a good price," Dumbledore said.

Felix chuckled. "Unless he can clean the room properly—I can smell mutton every time I pass by, and the floor looks like it hasn't been cleaned in centuries—so don't get your hopes up too high."

"Hope is a precious thing for those who are suffering," Dumbledore said calmly, looking at Professor McGonagall.

(End of this chapter)