A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

Ahhh, so cute!!! I want to hug her.

Felix flashed a smile that seemed to command the entire arena.

"Next, we need a battle!"

Chapter 19 Open Course (Part 3)

In the school auditorium, all the students were completely silent, their eyes fixed on the platform, afraid of missing a single detail.

A fierce battle is taking place there.

The palm-sized puppets moved swiftly, their agile figures accompanied by bursts of flame and swirling ice crystals with every punch and kick. Every now and then, one of them would unleash a special "hit move," such as the fire man's massive fireball or the ice woman's icy spikes, pushing the intense atmosphere to new heights.

Three minutes later, the battle ended with the Fire Man defeating the Ice Woman with a series of fire attacks and the "Hidden Magic: Phoenix Transformation".

Many of the young wizards sighed in unison.

They wanted to see the adorable Ice Maiden...

Felix's voice came at just the right time, explaining, "This is another branch that evolved from the original ancient runes: alchemy."

"What you see is a simple alchemical artifact, a magical puppet. The outer shell is not the key; the key is the ancient magical runes inside."

"Ancient magic rune circuits are essentially a combination game of magic runes."

"This is the practical part of your final exam."

The initially enthusiastic young wizard was somewhat bewildered. "Professor, aren't you overestimating us?"

Since you're new here, you may not yet understand our actual situation...

Hurry up and send in a mediocre student to show off their skills to the professor.

"Of course, this magical puppet is still too complicated for you. However, the ancient magic runes involved in making a magical puppet basically cover the content of five grades. I will divide the difficulty according to different grades."

"I will go into the specific requirements in subsequent lessons."

The young wizards finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“But Professor!” a Hufflepuff girl raised her hand and asked.

"I'm a fifth-grade student, but all the ancient runes I've learned so far have been mostly translations. Do I need to learn new knowledge? But I have to take the OWLs exam this year..."

“I understand,” Felix said calmly. “First of all, there is no need to learn new knowledge again. I have seen your textbooks, so please have some faith in your professors.”

Felix made a joke.

"And it must be mentioned that Professor Babling is an excellent expert in ancient runes, and the textbook she chose was very suitable. It included both theoretical translations and a small amount of practical runes—although Professor Babling may have considered that ancient runes were not alchemy classes, so she did not elaborate on this part."

"But this is just a starting point. If you aspire to learn more advanced material in the future, these things will guide you to overcome the initial obstacles."

Many young wizards were relieved.

"Secondly, at least this year, practical exams will still mainly be awarded as bonus points, and I will also consider teaching more theoretical content in the fifth and seventh grades."

Some of the young wizards in the audience were happy, while others let out disappointed wails.

"Secondly, some students may worry that hands-on practice will take up too much time, but these two are complementary. You may unconsciously acquire more knowledge while playing the game."

“That is my answer.” Felix bowed.

The applause of the audience was thunderous.

“We have about half an hour left. Is there anyone who wants to try controlling these magical puppets in battle?” Felix asked.

This isn't even a problem.

The little wizard's excited shouts were loud enough to lift the ceiling.

“Oh, you might not be able to control the puppets accurately with your wands, so you’ll need this!” Felix waved his wand, and twelve strange gadgets flew out of his briefcase—actually game controllers.

"You can use it to control the puppets. Let me demonstrate first..."

Before long, the students started to get to work. Felix used Transfiguration to create six more platforms, but with hundreds of people present today, it was impossible for everyone to take turns.

Ron and Harry were lucky enough to get one chance. The two quickly engaged in a stalemate, occasionally unleashing a "special move" and shouting excitedly.

But no one laughed at them; even the little witch went mad, screaming exaggeratedly.

Felix stood to the side, discussing today's open class with Flitwick.

"Fantastic!" That was Flitwick's assessment.

Professor Snape had already left quietly; no one knew when he left, just as no one knew when he arrived.

Lockhart, on the other hand, looked preoccupied, seemingly lost in thought.

Happy times are always short. As the class was coming to an end, some students arrived at the auditorium right around lunchtime, only to find a fierce duel taking place. After a quick glance, they forgot their original purpose and joined the crowd of onlookers.

This delayed the start of lunch by half an hour, and Felix eventually had to abruptly end the class and restore the auditorium to its original state.

Throughout dinner, the young wizards continued to discuss the open class with great enthusiasm, especially the students who were lucky enough to draw a battle opponent. They were particularly animated, excitedly discussing their "experience," their knives and forks flying as if they had taken the students into the classroom.

It must be said that the young wizards' entertainment options are indeed quite limited.

Meanwhile, at the Gryffindor dining table, Ron was still enthusiastically discussing his "final showdown" with Harry, even though he had lost by a very narrow margin, which did not dampen his enthusiasm.

“Harry, the Fireman I just used was so cool! Whoosh! Crack!” Ron swung his knife and fork, throwing a pumpkin pie that hit Neville on the head.

Although Harry wasn't as excited as Ron, he was just as thrilled.

However, he had a vague idea: rather than controlling magical puppets, he preferred to stand on the field and participate in the duel himself...

Hermione was a little unhappy; she hadn't gotten her turn yet. She really liked the Ice Maiden; she was very cute and looked a lot like a doll she had when she was little.

However, there is still a chance!

As long as I become Professor Hyp's assistant, I will definitely be able to get in touch with that doll.

Hermione cheered herself up.

She could even create her own magical puppet, modeled after herself, but with smaller teeth and smoother hair...

This unique public lecture was undoubtedly a success, and Felix became famous overnight, enjoying unparalleled popularity!

Discussions about this open class will likely continue for a long time, perhaps even becoming a campus legend, like countless rumors, and it's unknown how it will eventually spread.

Chapter 20 The Popular Professor

Friday.

As the new day began, the young wizards were still enthusiastically discussing yesterday's open class. Their enthusiasm was like a surging wave, injecting a powerful boost into their otherwise mundane school life.

What were they discussing a few days ago?

The perfectly handsome Professor Lockhart?

But now this news has faded into obscurity, not only because Lockhart's performance in class was truly disappointing—in fact, the word "disappointing" was even the result of some die-hard fans controlling the comments.

More importantly, Professor Hep has become a new generation of idol professor, and is showing a tendency to replace Professor Lockhart, who has the title of "heartthrob".

This greatly annoyed a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Lockhart paced back and forth in his office, his once smooth and flowing golden hair now somewhat limp, and the dozen or so portraits hanging in the office also wore the same irritable expression.

"I have to think of a way, yes, a way... Good heavens! He's a real show-off!"

Before coming to Hogwarts, he thought the only person qualified to compete with him for the front page of the Daily Prophet was the famous Harry Potter, and he was prepared for that. But now he had to admit that he had met a formidable competitor.

This reminded him of that despicable woman, Rita Skeeter. A few years ago, he had competed with her for the title of bestselling author. Although he lost in the end, it was because that woman cheated. She actually published his dark history from his school days in the newspaper!

However, she was not one to be trifled with. Did Skeeter not know how unpopular she was in school?

Professor Lockhart loosened the tight-fitting robe around his chest; those were truly passionate years! He felt his fighting spirit return.

"A tough opponent, huh?" He stopped in front of a full-length mirror, trying to bolster his courage. "Gidero, you're facing a battle now. Someone wants to beat you! You'll have to do something!"

Seeing himself in the mirror, he relaxed a little. With such a handsome face, how could he possibly lose?

Putting aside the incident that occurred in this small office, Felix's popularity among the young wizards has reached a new high, and everyone is looking forward to his formal lessons.

"Maybe he'll continue the magical puppet battles in class? You know, a lot of people didn't get a turn yesterday." Ron held a beef pie in his left hand, picked up a potato with a fork in his right, and kept talking.

“Maybe,” Harry said more rationally, “but we’re only in our second year. Remember Ron? We’d have to wait at least a year to get into his class.”

Ron's eyes widened. "Harry, you've ruined my first dream of the year." He nudged him with his elbow. "Do you know what I was thinking? I was just fantasizing about beating Malfoy to a pulp with magical golems..."

Ron closed his eyes and made a dreamy expression. "Malfoy's robes were set on fire by the fireball. He tried to dodge, but it was no use. My magical puppet was too fast! He also tried to cast a curse, but that was useless too, because the magical puppet was too small, and he couldn't aim at it at all!"

Harry ate his pie in silence, thinking that only Ron would miss, since his wand had broken in two.

Hermione, who was eating breakfast and reading a book nearby, looked up and corrected him, "Ron, I have to remind you that Professor Hyp said in his open class that for the safety of the young wizards, the magical golems only release the most basic flames, which are not as powerful as the Flame Spell we cast ourselves."

Ron seemed to choke on his beef patty, unable to speak. He didn't remember Professor Hyp saying that, but Hermione was always right in those matters. He muttered under his breath, "It's your Flame Burst spell. Neither Harry nor I know it. I think you've forgotten."

Hermione snorted.

"Weren't you reading a book? Haven't you finished reading it yet?"

"I think I just told you yesterday that I have twenty books on my reading list!"

Ron fell silent.

Harry became interested when he heard Hermione's words, and he couldn't help but ask her, "Hermione, how much do you know about this professor? Ron and I missed the opening banquet." He was referring to the time he and Ron drove across most of England in Mr. Weasley's car.

Therefore, he and Ron had to live in constant fear in Snape's basement, terrified of being expelled. Fortunately, they were neither expelled from school nor did they lose points for the house; Professor McGonagall even provided them with food.

However, given what happened, it was impossible to return to the banquet openly, and Ron missed his sister Ginny's Sorting Ceremony because of it.

Hermione quickly and fluently recited the information she had heard at the dinner party, "Professor Hyp graduated from Slytherin House at Hogwarts—"

"Slytherin!" Ron suddenly called out, but was glared at by Hermione and lowered his head to eat his pie.

"Yes, Slytherin. He's nine years older than us and graduated just three years ago. But he's very famous; all the upperclassmen in the school know him. Professor Hyp is skilled in ancient runes, spells, transfiguration, and Muggle studies, and of course, dueling."

"A duel?" Harry was somewhat taken aback. In his memory, Professor Hyp was clearly not the imposter Lockhart, but he also seemed gentle and refined, somewhat like a teacher he had when he was in Muggle school.

He found it hard to associate Professor Hyp with the word "duel".

“That’s right.” Hermione glanced around, then carefully lowered her head and whispered, “It’s said he’s Muggle-born. When he enrolled, Voldemort had just fallen from power, and the Slytherin students weren’t very friendly towards him, but…”

"But what?"

"However, he retaliated against them with a spell, and the older Slytherins were afraid of him because they had been taught a lesson."