A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Barrow the Blood is a ghost of Slytherin, but even the young wizards of the house keep their distance from him.

His appearance is truly terrifying; he's the one Pikachu fears most.

"Long time no see, Barrow," Felix greeted.

Blood Man Barrow floated motionless in place, staring blankly with his eyes fixed on the direction where Ms. Gray had left.

After a long while, he said in a hoarse voice, "Hello, Haip."

Felix looked at him, recalling how, during a nighttime outing during his school days, he had inadvertently overheard Barrow and Lady Grey talking. Barrow was begging for her forgiveness, while Lady Grey cursed him, saying he would never be redeemed.

That same night, he learned of Helena Ravenclaw's identity. He also roughly pieced together the entanglement between the two: Helena had taken Ravenclaw's crown and dared not return home. Meanwhile, her admirer, the Blood Man Barrow, had been entrusted by Rowena Ravenclaw to bring his daughter back.

A fierce argument ensued between the two, and in the end, Barrow the Blood Man accidentally killed Helena. In remorse, he also committed suicide with the same weapon that killed Helena.

"Barrow, what do you mean by saying her name is taboo?" Felix asked.

Barrow the Blood Man didn't answer; he simply said dryly, "You're better than me at realizing you haven't fallen into dark magic."

Felix's expression turned serious, and he said in a low voice, "You reminded me."

"You can break free on your own without me. I saw the form you filled out..."

"Oh," Felix thought of the happy part as well, "that was a psychological assessment scale in the Muggle world, a backup plan I prepared in advance to prevent myself from getting too deeply involved... but I still have to say, without you, I might have delayed realizing the seriousness of the problem for a month or two."

The corrupting influence of dark magic on the mind is insidious, and the data on the measuring instruments is always lagging. By the time an anomaly is detected, the danger may have already occurred.

The blood-soaked Barrow drifted away silently.

Felix stared blankly at his emaciated back, then shook his head. He couldn't get involved in or mediate the matter between the two ghosts—the knots in a ghost's heart weren't so easy to untie.

Ghosts are products of those who linger in reality with resentment and strong obsession at the time of death. This obsession is the basis for their existence, and as such, their perception is almost forever stuck in the time when they were still alive.

This is somewhat similar to the portrait in the principal's office, but ultimately, ghosts can be altered.

However, once things change, the outcome may not be good.

According to Felix's speculation, if Hogwarts publicly dismissed Professor Binns, he might disappear on the spot—because Professor Binns' obsession was teaching.

However, given the question of whether this approach is humane and how to find another old scholar to replace him, this suggestion has never been put forward.

He returned to his office, opened the three manuscripts he had selected from the Slytherin archives, and began to study them carefully. This particular document also reflected Slytherin's own style—it proposed a hypothesis about whether the unique talents of magical creatures could be transformed into wizarding spells.

This line of thinking has existed since ancient times, such as the chameleon and the illusion charm, the invisible beast and the invisibility charm, but in reality there is little connection between them. The development of spells is largely a matter of chance.

It was only when later generations looked back that they discovered that some of the wizards' magic and the magical creatures' own talents had great similarities.

Slytherin attempted to find a way to reliably convert the talents of alien magical creatures into wizarding spells, but it is clear that he later abandoned this approach.

Slytherin chose to give up, and young Tom didn't take it seriously either, as evidenced by the fact that he hid this information in the Room of Requirement to trick people.

But Felix was very interested in it. He memorized the incomplete information, thinking that he might need it someday.

Over the next few days, Felix spent his time leisurely and comfortable, reading books and watching movies. He would occasionally check on his assistant's learning progress and offer appropriate suggestions; time passed little by little.

Finally, the Christmas holidays ended, and the new term at Hogwarts began.

That evening, the Hogwarts train brought the students back, and everyone gathered in the Great Hall, making the school lively again.

Having enjoyed the Christmas holidays, they seemed to have forgotten the attack that occurred last semester and excitedly shared their experiences with each other.

"My mom took me abroad to visit relatives, and I never imagined I'd have a cousin who goes to Evamonia!" a young wizard exclaimed excitedly, while the people around him bombarded him with questions about the details.

What is Iphamoni?

"A magic school, similar to Hogwarts, but in America."

"Really? I thought there was only one magic school in the whole world!" a young wizard sighed.

On the Gryffindor table, Hermione was dressed in thick clothes, wearing a knitted hat, and a huge mask covered her face.

"Hermione, what's wrong with you?" Katie Bell, a year ahead of her, asked in confusion. She was the Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"I have a cold, cough cough!" she said briefly.

"But I noticed that the color of your eyes has changed too, a bit like a cat's..." The little witch examined her closely.

"Um...it might be because of the magic," Hermione said guiltily, changing the subject. "Katie, how did you spend your vacation?"

Katie's attention was indeed diverted. She pouted, "Staying at home is so boring, except it's safer. Do you think the attacks will still happen? I've read a lot of newspapers during the holidays..."

"Don't worry, Katie. There won't be any attacks," Hermione said confidently.

How did you know?

"Ahem, you'll see in a minute," Hermione said, while Harry tugged at her sleeve from the other side.

He asked in a low voice, "Hermione, is your spell not finished yet? To be honest, your outfit looks a bit strange."

She sighed in frustration, "No—I can barely manage to use it, but the effect is very poor, and there's still a light layer of hair on my face. At least wait another day or two; Professor Hyp said I'm progressing very quickly."

Ron tapped his empty wine glass with his fork. "But how are you going to eat later?"

"I'm not eating!" Hermione said angrily.

"Clang, clang!" Dumbledore tapped a glass in front of him from the teachers' table.

The auditorium gradually quieted down.

Dumbledore stood up, his face beaming, and said, "Welcome back, young wizards."