A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

"The idea is feasible." Felix saw more possibilities in this simple attempt, and he felt that with some effort, he could achieve the same level as the sleeping guardian statues in the castle.

However, he did not believe he could create a magical artifact similar to the Sorting Hat or the Diary.

The latter is understandable, since it's a Horcrux containing a piece of Voldemort's soul. But what about the Sorting Hat? It was originally just a hat for Gryffindor, not something specifically made for the Sorting House.

According to Felix's imagination, the four founders may have questioned each other's "talent selection plan" during a shared afternoon tea. In order to resolve their differences, they decided to use "intelligent magical creations" to divide the houses.

Thus, the Sorting Hat was born. And the Sorting Hat has existed for over a thousand years. It can communicate with people, possesses its own memories and personality; in a sense, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a true life form.

This reminded him of magical portraits that could also communicate with people.

Some simple portraits, such as that of Sir Cadogan in the castle, depict him as having extremely simple wisdom, incapable of engaging in complex and organized conversations.

When Felix tested him during their school days, the boastful knight could only offer seven valid responses, such as bragging about his glorious achievements or issuing a duel challenge.

Some of the portraits are quite remarkable – they are able to interact with the outside world in complex ways and retain a considerable amount of their own memories.

As far as he knew, the portraits of past headmasters in the Hogwarts headmaster's office, as well as some portraits of the ancestors of pure-blood families, all fell into this category.

This is because the owners of the portraits infused them with a great deal of memory and magic, so that the portraits they left behind still retain a similar personality to the original owner, but only a similarity; they are not real life.

The biggest difference is that the character of the portrait does not change over time; it remains fixed at the moment it is created, like a complex interactive program.

This is fundamentally different from the Sorting Hat...

"The Sorting Hat definitely hides a bigger secret!"

……

As dawn broke on Christmas Day, Felix dressed smartly and emerged from his bedroom. Beneath a small Christmas tree in the corner of the office lay a large pile of Christmas gifts of various shapes and sizes.

Roughly speaking, there are about a hundred items.

Moreover, several packages were on their way. While he was making tea, three owls flew into the house through the window he had deliberately left open the night before. One of them had clearly flown quite a distance, carrying a delicate gift box the size of a palm in its beak, before collapsing exhausted on the table in front of him.

Felix had to feed it a few drops of magic potion before its condition improved considerably.

After eating a few cookies, the brown owl hopped over to him and gently pecked his fingers with its sharp beak. "You want me to open the package?"

The owl looked at him, tilted its head, and stretched out a claw towards him, where a small metal cylinder was attached.

Felix opened the cylinder and pulled out a rolled-up note—

"Dear Mr. Felix Heap, my wolfsbane potion has been finalized. Just as 'White Fresh' flew to you, I submitted the official formula to the Ministry of Magic. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will soon be awarded a Order of Merlin—at least a second-class medal! I hope you can attend the ceremony. Enclosed is a vial of the latest wolfsbane potion for your perusal."

The signature is Damocles Belby.

Felix quickly wrote on it, "It would be an honor. Please let me know as soon as the date is set, and I will attend on time. Also: Your Order of Merlin is well-deserved."

He put the note back into the metal cylinder. "Thank you for your hard work, Bai Xian." The owl drank some water, spread its wings, and flew away.

Felix opened the exquisite gift box, inside was a bottle of potion. He opened the lid, sniffed it lightly, and said, "Ugh, still smells awful. Couldn't he have considered adding some sugar? Or is making potions taste terrible a quirk of all magic masters?"

He put the potion into the emerald-encrusted ring on his left hand, and then began to unwrap the gifts with great interest.

A significant portion of the gifts came from his book fans and pen pals, mainly greeting cards. Felix sorted through them and set them aside for the time being; the remaining gifts were from Hogwarts professors and students.

Dumbledore gave the headmaster a private alchemical manuscript, containing his personal insights on alchemy. Felix, on the other hand, presented him with a Muggle book titled "99 Inventions That Changed the World," along with a pair of wool stockings embroidered with red lions.

Professor McGonagall sent me a book called "Quidditch Teams in England and Ireland," which introduces British Quidditch teams and their various honors, and also contains a lot of illustrations of Quidditch techniques.

It seems she wants to bring Felix into the Quidditch fan club.

Hagrid gave him a homemade short dagger, which was quite crudely made, but the material was very special—it was a unicorn horn.

"Tsk." Felix clicked his tongue, unsure of what to say.

Professor Flitwick sent him some information on ancient magic and invited him to discuss the subject with him when he had time, to which Felix gladly replied.

Professor Snape's gift was a thumb-sized clear bottle containing about one milliliter of clear liquid.

"It's a powerful truth serum, you've got some talent, Professor," he said gleefully. "I hope you'll like my gift." What he gave Snape was a set of experimental equipment for Muggle elementary and middle school students, including measuring cups, balances, and droppers.

He also thoughtfully included a "Code of Conduct for Chemical Experiments (Children's Edition)" with plenty of illustrations, so professors wouldn't have trouble understanding it.

Many young wizards at Hogwarts also gave him gifts. His assistant, Miss Granger, gave him a dark green knitted scarf, Potter gave him a large bag of chocolates, and Ron Weasley gave him a box of honeydew melons.

The most interesting gift was the one the twins gave together: two wooden couple dolls embracing each other, looking even cruder than Hagrid's dagger—the facial features were all painted on. Felix tapped the male doll on the head according to the instructions, and he cried out in pain. Then the two dolls started to dance a zombie dance, trembling slightly.

Although the twins explained that it was a "waltz" from a small African country, Felix completely ignored them.

In addition, some junior wizards whom I had only met a few times also sent gifts. For example, Justin Finley sent a gorgeous quill pen with multiple functions.

It took Felix an hour to finish writing the letter and the reply.

He entered the hall, where a few young wizards sat scattered around four long tables.

A dozen or so Christmas trees covered in silver frost were adorned with all sorts of novel and interesting trinkets, and ribbons made of mistletoe and holly hung from the ceiling, while enchanted snowflakes fell in a flurry.

Professor McGonagall and several other professors were busy decorating the auditorium.

"Do you need any help?" he asked.

Professor McGonagall straightened up. "Oh, no need, it's almost done." She waved her wand, hanging a long, colorful ribbon on the Christmas tree, and turned to him. "I love your gift, Felix."

Felix smiled. He gave Professor McGonagall a half-human-sized magical puppet with more than a dozen complex circuits inside, which gave it two forms—in addition to its human form, it could also transform into a majestic lion.