A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 732 Extra Chapter: Potter

It wasn't until nine o'clock in the evening that Harry finally escaped the relentless drinking. He couldn't help it; it was his last day as a demobilized officer, and all his colleagues were very enthusiastic. The last image he remembered was Hermione smiling at him, followed by an ever-growing wine glass being shoved under his nose. It was Ron! Harry thought through gritted teeth, red hair, gray freckles, there was no mistake.

"Mr. Potter, are you awake? Ms. Granger asked me to bring you to the island," a voice said. Harry turned sharply to see two staff members standing behind him. "Oh, thank you," he mumbled, rubbing his throbbing forehead.

"You're welcome. We just happened to be on the island on business," the man said, and they left.

Harry wandered aimlessly along the path, past flowering shrubs and tall trees, thanking Professor Bubbaji and all the herbalism professors who had helped with the reforestation... After walking for a while, he became a little more lucid and, by the soft glow of his magic lamp, came to a communal broomhouse. Ten minutes later, Harry knocked on the door of his lodging on the floating island. The door opened, and Ginny stood there, hands on her hips, glaring at him.

"Whom should I seek revenge against?" she asked, like an angry female cat.

"Ron," Harry said readily. Ginny seemed amused and exasperated. "I knew it." She ushered Harry in and had him sit down. Harry saw a half-finished press release on the table.

"...Retired Viktor Krum missed the 426th Quidditch World Cup, and in an interview he said that missing this event was a regret of his career."

Harry sipped his tea as he read. There was a clattering noise from the kitchen; before he'd even finished the article, Ginny came out with fried eggs and sausages. "Thank you, darling!" Harry immediately wolfed them down.

Are the children asleep?

"Um."

"Krum will not be able to participate in the match."

"Yes, his stats have dropped drastically in recent years. I guess it's because the high-intensity training and continuous matches have taken a toll on his body. I've analyzed his videos—he's too eager to win. It would be good for him to take a few years off," Ginny commented with a professional eye. After graduating, she joined the Holyhead Harpies and became a professional Quidditch player. Later, she became a Quidditch columnist for the Daily Prophet.

"By the way, guess who I ran into during the day?" Ginny asked.

"Cough," Harry choked on his fried egg and asked with some concern, "It's not Snape, is it?"

"Why did you think of him?" Ginny patted Harry on the back in a friendly manner. Feeling the pressure on his back, Harry decided not to reveal for the time being that Snape might come to Lily's birthday party (Snape had called her a stupid girl).

"It's Luna, Luna!" she chuckled. "She's busy taking care of the baby."

"What?" Harry said in disbelief, spitting out the half-eaten sausage, then said thoughtfully, "I guess it's a baby magical creature?"

Ginny cleared her throat.

"...Finally, they brought back a few sapphires and an unknown feather from the rainforest, only to discover they were the eggs of some unknown magical creature... Well, actually, they didn't find them. Luna had one of the gems set into her clothes, supposedly Rolf's idea. Perhaps because of the strong magical fluctuations on the island, the egg hatched on its own while they were out shopping."

Harry was stunned.

"That bird is quite pretty; it emits iridescent light," Ginny said with a grin. "You should check it out; Luna turned the eggshell into a brooch. I think it would perfectly match her unique outfit..."

Late at night, Harry stood by the window, looking at the night view of the island.

Ginny hugged him from behind. They leaned against each other quietly, enjoying the tranquility of the night. Several buildings shimmered in the deep blue sky, brighter than the stars on the sea. Harry knew one of them belonged to the Weasley Wizarding Arts.

"What are you thinking about?" Ginny asked.

"Headmaster Dumbledore," Harry gave an unexpected answer. Ginny looked up in confusion, and Harry sighed, "Now I realize how precious what Dumbledore left me was." He said solemnly, "It was memories."

"memory?"

"Hmm," Harry murmured. "Professor Hyp reminded me of it, but I didn't pay much attention. I was just focused on finishing Dumbledore's biography as much as possible. On my graduation trip, I went to the place where he and Grindelwald dueled, and I went to Brazil, America, and Nepal, following in the footsteps of the legend... The effects have only become apparent in the last few years. Professor Hyp said that some of my magic is approaching the level of an archmage, not just Patronus. I often have flashes of inspiration during training..."

"Let's go back to school sometime," Ginny said softly. "Luna said a lot of professors are planning to retire."

"Hmm," Harry hesitated for a moment, "it would be best to wait until after the World Cup, I'm too busy to get away for a while. Professor Hyp said there might be someone trying to sabotage the opening ceremony."

"What did you say?" Ginny exclaimed. "But—how could it be—the news is true? The floating island has never been attacked before."

Harry was equally confused, but for a different reason. He recalled the note the professor had given him, which precisely listed the coordinates of twelve floating islands, including the Wizarding-Muggle Joint Hospital, the headquarters of the International Pan-Magical Alliance, the headquarters of Futureworld Corporation, the Lunar Support Center, and several landmark buildings.

"It might be the location where the riots broke out on the opening day," the professor said vaguely.

But as Ginny said, how did the professor know so much detail? Memory magic? But nothing has happened yet, so he can't possibly be a prophet, right? Harry was inspired when he was riding around the island on a broomstick—or maybe he thought of Hermione—he suspected that the professor had a time-twister in his possession, but the problem is that it can only go back in time, not see the future.

Judging from the professor's attitude, it's at least not a major problem...

"Maybe he found some clues," Harry shook his head, not voicing his doubts. "He put me in charge of this, it seems like a test. I'm worried we don't have enough manpower. There are two hundred Aurors and a thousand batters on the island, but that's still too few compared to the tourists who flock in during the Quidditch World Cup."

Ginny racked her brains, then her eyebrows gradually relaxed.

"How could it not be enough? This is your home turf."

"My home turf?" Harry repeated, pondering. He wasn't sure if Ginny was referring to the island's inhabitants, but they weren't warriors. Warriors… A thought flashed through his mind, and Harry's eyes lit up. "Hogwarts! Frontline Watchtower, Ouroboros Club!"

Ginny smiled and added:

"And the Order of the Phoenix. Didn't Sirius complain about how boring his retirement was?" "He's enjoying it," Harry said succinctly. "He even turned down an offer from a wand house, and he didn't even want to be the headmaster."

"But I don't think he'd refuse a sudden adventure, would he?" Ginny raised an eyebrow and said. Harry, thinking of his godfather's personality, nodded in agreement, "That's true."

The Wand Academy is the only place on the island that teaches magic, but its students are somewhat special—it admits wizards who cannot use magic normally (commonly known as Squibs), including both children and adults. Compared to other magic schools, the floating island has a unique advantage: it has the highest density of wizards in the world. Combined with the floating island's ability to collect dissipated magic, it can better replenish the magic consumed by the wands. Therefore, the number of students in this special school is limited, recruiting no more than two thousand from all over the world each year. Its purpose is to help Squibs master the most basic spellcasting abilities.

"So don't worry, I believe you can do it," Ginny encouraged. "You're a warrior who conquered the Dark Lord."

Harry touched his nose, feeling a slight itch. He muttered to himself, "Not many people believed it, and Voldemort was very weak back then—" Ginny covered his mouth, and it took a long time before they separated.

"I also visited Astoria in the hospital," Ginny said breathlessly, her arms around Harry's neck.

Harry managed to calm his pounding heart and asked, following Ginny's words, "Is she alright?" He had seen Astoria once last year, and her complexion was showing signs of turning into the paleness characteristic of the Malfoy family.

“It’s a bit bad,” Ginny said. “It’s a unique curse, the exact nature of which is unknown. We can only tell from the symptoms that it’s related to blood. Moreover, this curse is invisible and intangible, and it’s entrenched in the entire Greengrass family. It just so happens that… it chose her. Her sister Daphne is fine.”

Ginny tightened her grip, making it hard for Harry to breathe, but he could sense her fear. Harry couldn't help but think of the little girl two years his junior in school; he found his strongest memory of her was Astoria, standing on a puppet snake—her prize from a dueling contest—wandering around the Black Lake. She seemed so carefree and cheerful then, a stark contrast to her frail appearance now.

"An unverifiable curse," Harry muttered to himself, as vague thoughts swirled in his mind: the Greengrass family, Malfoy, Professor Hyp... At that moment, Ginny hesitated for a moment and said, "Albus has made a new friend."

"You mean Scorpius?" Harry blurted out, lost in thought.

Ginny looked at him suspiciously.

"I didn't know you two became so close?"

……

Lying in bed, Harry pondered what he needed to do tomorrow:

First, he needed to report to the floating island headquarters. Although the official appointment wouldn't be announced for a while, given the trouble Professor Hyp had thrown his way, he'd better start working early. Fortunately, after all these years, he was already very familiar with the island's environment, but he should at least meet the foreign Aurors who had rotated in this year. He also needed to visit the twelve locations mentioned on the note. After returning empty-handed from the hospital, he first went to Lupin's place. The little teddy bear was very endearing, much more well-behaved than his own two brats. After that, he went to the lunar support center. It seemed someone had mentioned something about a space island project to him. Was it about building islands in space? But he was immediately called back home to command his last operation before leaving office, so he didn't hear it clearly.

Harry's thoughts began to wander:

At the farewell banquet, Ron said he didn't want the promotion; being a minister was fine. He didn't want to work as hard as Percy, making "winning back a Minister for Magic" his family's mission. Percy already had gray hair. Anyone could see that Hermione, as a senior deputy minister, had a better chance... Harry thought of Malfoy and Astoria again. Half-asleep, he made a decision: talk to Professor Hyp, no, ask Hermione first... The professor's current state was a bit frightening. Harry shuddered. If he didn't know that no one in the world could hurt him, he would have suspected that the professor had turned into a ghost sometime during the day.

He muttered twice, dismissing the far-fetched idea. A baby's babbling came from the corner, and Lily Potter turned over. Harry, inhaling the scent of Ginny's hair, drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Harry was awakened by the baby's cries. He yawned, put on his glasses, and saw Ginny in her pajamas taking care of her little daughter. "Look!" Ginny exclaimed excitedly. Harry saw the baby moisten her lips with saliva, opening and closing like a little fish, blowing out a bubble. She giggled to herself.

"That's funny," Harry said. "It reminds me of the fishmen in the Black Lake."

At breakfast, the family sat together, eating and watching the magical television. A very enthusiastic voice was broadcasting the morning news, "It's estimated that eight million people will land on the island! No wonder, although the floating island has been receiving tourists from all over the world, this is the first time it's been opened to the public on such a large scale. Imagine, an average of ten thousand people crammed into one square kilometer—I heard this is common in big cities, so are they living in sardine cans?"

It was Lee Jordan, Harry thought with a sigh as he looked at the TV host who looked almost unchanged.

Lee Jordan was among the second group to land on the island—the floating island had undergone several major changes over the years, each phase adding far-reaching initiatives. Starting with Professor Hyp's island-building, a third of the thousand American wizard families remained, and they, along with the wizards who chose to stay after participating in the Christmas bonfire night, formed the island's first inhabitants.

The second phase was marked by the relocation of Future World Corporation's headquarters, with a large number of scientists invited to collaborate on methods combining magic and science. During this process, some spells shone brightly, such as the Permanent Adhesion Charm. The scientists' use of machines to demonstrate magical-like abilities also amazed the wizards. With the establishment of the International Pan-Magical Alliance headquarters and the presence of various large corporations and national organizations on the island, a severe shortage of wizards emerged, prompting a global recruitment drive to bring wizards to the island to settle and work.

It's worth mentioning that this also includes quite a few duds.

However, they prefer to call themselves "low-magic wizards." A well-known example is Winnie Valentine, a teacher at the School of Wands, who coined the term. Her teaching philosophy is to "integrate wizards into all walks of life," and she is said to be a strong contender for the Dumbledore Award next year.

"...A new movie-going frenzy has swept the world, and you all know which movie I'm referring to—that's right, Harry Potter." The two children at the table immediately perked up their ears. "Mafalda Prowitt is four years younger than me. There's a rumor that she didn't get an invitation to Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley's wedding, but my good brother tells me that's nonsense. She just missed the vows because she suddenly fell ill and couldn't ride her broomstick..."

Harry and Ginny smiled at each other.

Six-year-old James looked around incredulously and exclaimed, "So you guys did it? Or Fred or Uncle George? Good heavens, I've always told Teddy I idolize her—"

“It’s no big deal,” Ginny said casually. “You idolize her stories, but those stories are about your father.” She leaned down to look at the crib, where the baby blinked its bright eyes and looked back at her. Ginny frowned. “That’s strange. The milk in the bottle hasn’t gone down at all.”

She tried the bottle, but the baby kept avoiding the nipple, his two light eyebrows furrowed tightly, and his limbs kicked wildly. Ginny looked at James with suspicion; he was undoubtedly the most mischievous and energetic in the family—seemingly infected by his godfather.

James swore. "It wasn't me!" His gaze shifted to Albus. "I heard Albus say he misses the taste of a pacifier." James grinned mockingly, seeing it as a clear sign of immaturity. Meanwhile, Harry suddenly understood. He wondered if this counted as a Potions Master's talent? Perhaps it could be used to persuade Ginny… Five-year-old Albus immediately lowered his head in embarrassment, putting down his knife and fork and whispering, "I…I'm finished."

"Can I go play near the hospital?"

Harry and Ginny exchanged a glance. "Going to see friends?" "Oh, yeah," Albus said evasively. "Come back early this afternoon, we're going to Lupin's house."

“I don’t think he’ll have time to entertain us,” James said seriously. “He’s busy taking care of those furry…” He saw his mother’s look, covered his mouth with his hands, and muttered through his fingers, “I mean, it’s a small problem.”

Harry couldn't help but chuckle. He took out his wand and flicked it lightly, and a thin golden thread wrapped around the hem of Albus's clothes. Then he flicked it again, and a second thread wrapped around James.

"What is this?" the two brothers asked in unison.

"Traces," Harry replied.

"Cool!" James gave a thumbs up.

(End of this chapter)