A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

Fifteen minutes ago.

Similar topics were being discussed among the teachers.

Snape slowly picked up a potato, put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly. "Felix, the new professor is not trustworthy. In fact—he and that escaped criminal are best friends. They were like-minded back in school."

Felix looked up and said casually, "I don't know about that. Could you tell me more, Professor?"

Snape glared at him. "What do you want to know?"

“That’s all you can say,” Felix said.

Snape looked at him with disdain: "There's nothing to say. Potter, Black, Lupin, and that Peter, they were practically inseparable in school, always loafing around and causing trouble."

"Especially that Potter, arrogant, utterly foolish, he trusted that traitor..."

"You two didn't get along well in school?"

Snape's expression stiffened, and he said slowly, "You have indeed found out quite a bit."

Felix smiled and said, "On the surface, though. After all, you and he were both outstanding figures of that era. Many people still remember you fondly, like the landlady of the Three Brooms."

"Don't pry into my affairs anymore, Felix. I'm warning you..."

“We’re in cahoots, aren’t we, Dean?” Felix changed his form of address. “But you need to give me more information. If it’s a personal grudge, then I can only apologize.”

After a long stare, Snape raised his head slightly and said softly, "Personal grudge? You'll be surprised when you see Lupin for who he really is, Felix. You can stay out of it, but I can catch Black all by myself and enjoy the sweetness of revenge."

"They ambushed you? Professor, you didn't get beaten up badly, did you?" Felix asked curiously.

Snape's gaze turned terrifying, and Felix tried to salvage the situation, saying, "Oh, of course not. At least they're evenly matched, otherwise, Professor, who did you test your little curses on?"

Snape jumped to his feet, the chair scraping against the floor with a screeching sound. He glanced instinctively at the Gryffindor table, and at the same time, Harry looked over, their eyes meeting.

Harry's surprise had not yet faded, while Snape's eyes were as calm and still as a deep spring.

After a while, he waved his sleeves and left.

Chapter 187 The Twins and Snape's Gossip

After the fifth-grade ancient runes class in the afternoon, Felix kept the twins behind by himself.

"Professor, are there really seven types of endoscopes?" Fred asked curiously.

In the previous class, Felix's schedule was the same as in seventh grade. He explained the learning plan for the entire school year and briefly reviewed the learning content of third and fourth grade. At the end of the class, he mentioned that in addition to magical puppets, a new type of magical artifact—the Mirror of Sight—was introduced this school year.

Felix nodded and said, "It does exist. You'll see in the next class."

The reason he was delaying was because he was still missing a type of endoscope, which was currently being adjusted.

The book "Exploring the Secrets of Ancient Alchemy" mentions seven methods for making viewing mirrors, but they all follow the alchemical route. What Felix did during this period was to replace some magic rune circuits with them, so that their functions remained the same and could even be enhanced.

He was tirelessly experimenting, and if possible, he planned to spend most of the year on it—converting alchemical creations into rune-based creations.

With the alchemy master Nicolas Flamel around, he was confident in this.

……

George asked, "Why are there seven types of viewing mirrors?"

Fred replied without hesitation, "Perhaps the spyglass is disguised? For example, it might look like a doorknob normally, but it will make a loud noise when touched."

George continued, following his train of thought, "It's kind of like our fake wand, or maybe the other way around. It's normally shaped like a peephole, but if you try to do something to it, it shoots fireworks from the tail, which then fly all over the room..."

"That's a brilliant idea, George," Frey said with a grin. "What a charming little brain."

George bowed. "You too, Mr. Weasley."

"Ahem!" Felix coughed twice, stopping their playful antics. "Seeing how happy you all are, I can't bear to tell you what's coming next."

The twins turned to look at him at the same time.

“Oh, no, Felix, we’re in this together,” Fred said without any hesitation.

Felix chuckled; he had only said that a short while ago. "Disrespectful to the professor, huh?"

Fred raised his hands in a gesture of begging for mercy.

But neither of them paid attention. Felix had long ago discovered that these two people were very suitable to be friends, provided that you had a certain amount of authority in front of them, otherwise their habitual pranks would be enough to give you a headache.

Being an assistant wasn't appropriate either. Felix had initially just wanted someone to share his workload, but he found it hard to imagine the twins would seriously grade papers. He even suspected they might cast a curse on some of the bad ones.

For example, homework with a grade of zero is cursed with a "Bumping Curse," making the lazy wizard feel the malice from the spell assistant...

It's quite interesting when you think about it, but this is something you can only dream about.

Felix's expression turned serious: "Alright, let's get back to the point. This is your OWLS year. How many exams are you confident you'll pass?"

“Ancient runes are fine, if they change the exam to magical golems,” Fred said, panting.

Felix said sternly, “This is no joke. I don’t object to you doing research in your spare time and I will provide guidance, but your grades can’t fall too far behind.”

The twins sighed, and Fred, unusually, spoke the truth: "I reckon I'll only pass four or five of my OWLS exams, maybe even fewer. What about you, George?"

“We’re about the same level, but I think you might be too optimistic. I believe three certificates is a more reasonable number,” George said with a straight face.

Fred immediately beamed with joy.

Felix shook his head, not wanting them to change the subject, and said directly, "To prevent you from becoming too engrossed in your studies, I've specifically asked your brother, Percy Weasley, to take some time to keep an eye on you—"

"what!"

"No, Professor!"

Felix's lips curled up. "Is there something wrong? I told him he wouldn't interfere with your research, at least not in the short term. As far as I know, his results are excellent, and he can offer you some advice."

Fred hunched his shoulders, glanced to the side, and struck a haughty pose—he mimicked Percy's tone as he said, "Fred! Put away your prank candy. If I see you giving it to anyone else again, I'll put you in solitary confinement, and I mean it!"

Felix: "...To be honest, your gummies aren't poisonous, are they?"

“Of course not, Professor. We’ve done the tests. I was the first test subject,” Fred said.

“I’m the second one,” George said.

The twins pleaded with Felix for ten minutes, and seeing they were about to be late, they hurriedly left. As they left, they didn't forget to shout loudly—

"Professor, we will not give up!"

"That's right, unless you take back your decision!"

Felix watched their retreating figures with a slight headache. For a fleeting moment, a thought popped into his head: 'Did Professor Snape think of me the same way back then?'

'But I'm not that eccentric.' He returned to his office and spent some time completing the final improvements to the seventh endoscope.

Looking at the various sizes of endoscopes on the workbench, his mood inexplicably improved.

"I currently possess over a thousand ancient magical runes. When will that number reach ten thousand, or even twenty thousand?"

"By then, how far will my understanding of magic have reached?"

Felix imagined that during the battle, countless magical runes would swirl around him, automatically coalescing into powerful ancient magic under his will. While others' spells were at most beams of light, he had completely abandoned his wand, unleashing a continuous barrage of attacks with a mere wave of his hand.

There was no escape, no way to avoid it; the only option was to tough it out.

"You're overthinking it. There aren't many people who can get me to go all out right now. I'd better think about what to talk about next with Nicolas Flamel. His understanding of alchemy is far beyond my imagination."

"With his perspective, I can examine alchemical and runic artifacts from a higher level."

"This will help me better understand the properties of runes."

In the evening, when Felix left his office to have dinner in the auditorium, he unexpectedly overheard two pieces of gossip.

One incident occurred during Hagrid's first class: an accident happened, and a student was injured. Felix was relieved after carefully inquiring; the situation wasn't serious. The student's wound contained some foreign magic, and with Madam Pomfrey's skills, he would be back to his old self in three days at most.

He didn't take it to heart; the previous professor of this course had caused far more trouble, and Hagrid would at most receive a probationary period.

The second thing gave him a headache: in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, the new professor was teaching third-year students how to fight Boggarts—magical creatures that could shapeshift according to their fears.

Boggarts are not inherently strong, but they are incredibly effective against wizards with fatal weaknesses or fragile minds, especially when faced with them unprepared.

In class, a student's object of fear turned out to be Snape. Encouraged by Professor Lupin, the student overcame his fear and recited the Boggart Exorcising Charm, "Humming Hu ...

Felix was sitting at the long table in Hufflepuff, two seats away from him, where a little witch with two golden braids was vividly describing the scene.

"...Professor Snape strode over aggressively, and although his target was Longbottom, I felt a chill run down my spine, thinking, 'This is bad, he's definitely going to fail.' And guess what happened?"

Hannah Abbott, beaming, said, "Longbottom chanted the spell, and it was like a whip lashing out at Professor Snape. Instantly, his clothes transformed into an embroidered grandmother's dress, he wore a tricorn hat, and a huge red handbag dangled from his hand..."

"Honestly, this is the first time I've realized that boy is so cool!"

Felix listened in astonishment; from what he knew, Snape must be furious.

Chapter 188 New Class of Third Grade

It seems he'll never have a chance to get Professor Lupin into the dueling class.

Felix thought with some regret.

If he really does that, it's hard to say whether Snape will directly curse the new professor or turn his wand on himself, the one who started it all.

As for Snape's assessment of Remus Lupin, Felix could only take it as a reminder.

At least when Sirius Black was causing widespread panic, Dumbledore still allowed Lupin to teach young wizards, including Harry Potter, which shows that the headmaster trusted him quite a bit.

The next day, in a third-grade ancient runes class, Felix introduced himself to the young wizards below the podium.

"Most of you—"

Felix's gaze swept across the packed classroom, pausing briefly on some familiar faces—Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville from Gryffindor, and Malfoy and Millison Burst from Slytherin…

"My impression of me comes from the Duel Class, but that class is Ancient Runes. You'll find that there's a big difference between the two. In the public eye, Ancient Runes isn't considered a practical subject."

A Slytherin girl raised her hand, her eyes fixed on the doll on the table with fervent eyes. "Professor, you created a magical puppet using ancient runes!"

"Miss, what's your name?"

“Daphne,” the girl said, “Daphne Greengrass.”

Felix nodded. “Miss Greengrass, as I said, it’s in the public eye,” he emphasized. “Although I have tried my best to get the ancient runes out of their previous stereotypes, so far, it has only had some effect in schools.”

"However, you represent the future, and I believe that more and more people will be able to recognize the existence and value of practical runes..."

A round of enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience; Professor Hep's words had stirred their hearts.

"Now, let's begin roll call—"