A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

"Of course! I will fight to the end!" Sirius said without hesitation.

“That’s it,” Dumbledore said, “but can you face death with equanimity?”

"I would never cut open my own soul, Dumbledore!"

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Dumbledore reassured him. “But what if an extreme situation arises, and someone you care about is dying, or is certain to die, and you desperately want to save them… In that case, when you hear about a magic that can bring the dead back to life, would you still care whether it’s evil or not?”

Sirius hesitated. In that instant, several faces flashed before his eyes. He had already lost too much and really didn't want the same thing to happen again.

"People will flock here, using every means to uncover the secrets of the Horcruxes—selfish dark wizards for themselves, upright people for their families and friends, brave Aurors for their comrades, and despicable ambitious people for eternal power... Just imagine, Sirius, what a terrible scene that would be!"

Sirius was panting heavily. The thought of that terrible scene had convinced his reason, but he still felt guilty.

After a long pause, he said in a hoarse voice, "Then...then—"

After a long silence, Felix interjected, "We can arrange for Regulus to become a member of the Order of the Phoenix, undercover, to restore his reputation..."

“No, Felix, I don’t want to do that,” Sirius refused. “Regulus was a lone warrior, and I want people to understand the incredible courage he showed in making the difficult decision to fight Voldemort.” He looked at Dumbledore. “Then let’s not mention the Horcruxes, but at least don’t ignore his actions in fighting Voldemort, okay?”

Dumbledore nodded and said, "I would be happy to announce this at the funeral."

“Thank you…” Sirius said. In the absence of witnesses, in order to prevent the funeral from becoming a self-serving joke, a person of sufficient prestige must personally affirm Regulus’s contribution, and Dumbledore was the best candidate.

He would put his own reputation on one side of the scales, testifying for the former Death Eater, the Black family descendant who had vanished without a trace, and lifting him high...

As for Sirius Black himself, many people still don't know about his exoneration. If he suddenly appeared in Diagon Alley, it would definitely cause a chorus of screams of fear.

“Well, I, uh,” Sirius said slowly, “I’ll set the agenda, I’ll do it myself, and I’ll also finalize the list of invitees to the funeral—” He suddenly looked disgusted and muttered, “None of my relatives are good people.”

“I can invite some friends, Sirius,” Felix said.

“Thank you, thank you,” Sirius said. “Although I’m not a very good brother, having been imprisoned for over ten years, the Black name alone is enough to make them come all this way.”

"The influence of pure-blood families is demonstrated at this moment." He said emotionlessly, his tone ambiguous, leaving one unsure whether it was pride or sarcasm. He added in a low voice, "Just this once..."

Dumbledore took his leave, and the fire in the fireplace was lit.

“Wait a moment, Headmaster Dumbledore, let’s go together,” Felix said, rising to his feet. “Oh, right—”

Felix pulled a locket from his pocket, holding it by a gold chain; the locket swayed slightly.

“This is the fake Horcrux I took out of the stone basin. I glanced at it and there was no other magic attached to it. There was only a note left by Regulus inside.”

Sirius reached out and took it. This fake locket was made by Regulus based on Kreacher's description, but Kreacher had only glanced at it briefly, so the imitation was substandard—not only was the size wrong, but it also lacked the "S" mark that symbolized Salazar Slytherin.

He mechanically opened the locket lid; inside was only a small folded piece of parchment. He glanced at it, his eyes instantly welling up with tears. He read the words on it with trembling hands—

To the Dark Lord

By the time you read this letter, I will be dead, but I want you to know: I discovered your secret. I have taken the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as possible.

I am willing to die, just so that when you meet your destined opponent, you will be a mortal of flesh and blood.

.b.”

Kreacher let out a mournful cry and collapsed to the ground.

Dumbledore sighed, turned, and walked into the fireplace, Felix following him. In the Ancient Runes professor's office, the two had a brief conversation.

"Do you find some of my actions inhumane, Felix?" Dumbledore asked, a weary expression on his face.

"You just need to consider too many things, weigh the pros and cons, and plan the overall situation... Albus."

Dumbledore glanced at him in surprise, then smiled easily. "Let's talk about something happier. Well, I need to express my gratitude. Actually, besides the Hodge line, I've also been investigating the Woody Orphanage where Voldemort lived during his childhood, but it's been demolished because of its age."

But I never gave up. If it weren't for you all, maybe I would have found that cave.

Felix smiled. "With your magic, you can definitely crack his secret... But there is one thing worth noting: I have discovered that Voldemort is very good at curses, and he is used to linking curses with human desires."

Dumbledore nodded slightly: "That is indeed something to watch out for. He might exploit people's weaknesses and set traps."

Finally, Dumbledore told Felix not to reveal the existence of Horcruxes unless absolutely necessary, for the same reason he had given Sirius. Felix did not think this was an exaggeration.

“That Harry…”

“I’ve already spoken to him,” Dumbledore said with a troubled expression. “He and his friends want to find out more about the secrets of the Horcruxes and even wanted to ask Alma about it. Luckily, I found out in advance.”

Felix was secretly relieved. He had no interest in Horcruxes and hadn't considered the possible consequences Dumbledore had pointed out. In addition, Harry was destined to confront Voldemort, so he didn't feel any guilt when he revealed this information.

Harry probably hadn't thought of that either, which is why he planned to ask the librarian, Mrs. Alma Pines.

……

Time flew by, and June arrived in the blink of an eye. At the beginning of the month, Felix finished proctoring the final exams for the third, fourth, and sixth graders, and then observed the new year's wizarding level exams—.ls and s.

The examiners sent by the Wizarding Examination Board were the same group as last year. After the exam, the fifth and seventh graders played and frolicked, celebrating their escape from a year of hell.

In the week before the end of the school year, Felix held the last Spellbook Club gathering of the semester.

All the club members were excited because an open secret had been circulating among them for a long time: Professor Hyp was going to teach them an ancient magic spell!

Chapter 311 Dangerous Ancient Magic

Inside the Magic Rune Club, the young wizards sat relaxed on sofas of various sizes, chatting animatedly and discussing what they planned to do during their holidays.

"I'll definitely go to the World Cup... I'll also visit relatives; my uncle has a monster with a high, convex back and a pair of long horns..."

In a corner of the sofa, Hermione whispered, "I bet he's talking about horned beasts. They're usually found in mountainous areas, are entirely purple, and have a very aggressive temperament."

“Oh, Hermione, we’ve all finished our exams,” Ron said.

This is not part of the exam content.

“I know you were so excited because Mr. Newt Scamander replied to you that you couldn’t control yourself and memorized all his information,” Ron said.

Harry couldn't help but laugh out loud, while Hermione glared at them, embarrassed and annoyed.

Harry was fiddling with a heptagonal Muggle coin. Professor Hyp told him that he could only use Apparition outside the Room of Requirement when the entire coin turned a dazzling gold, but it was still missing a corner, and Harry had been hoping to fill it in before the holidays.

Ron glanced at the coin with envy. He had tried it a few times while practicing with Harry, but had never succeeded. He had always had a wish to learn the magic before the twins and then make fun of them.

"Harry, is the date of Professor Lupin's farewell party confirmed?" Ron asked.

“The day after tomorrow,” Harry said, “it’s just a small dinner party, some professors… and us.”

“That’s strange,” Ron said. “I thought Snape would… ouch!” Harry stomped on his foot in a panic, then realized, “I mean, given how Snape treats Professor Lupin, he certainly wouldn’t mind revealing his secret…”

Hermione said, "Professor Snape knew all along, he knew from the beginning, and he didn't need to do this."

What I mean is...

Harry said thoughtfully, "Maybe he was a little embarrassed. Professor Lupin helped him out, right? He doesn't know the Patronus Charm." Even so, he still couldn't be sure whether the silver light he saw on Snape's wand that day was just his imagination.

Or perhaps it was just magic completely unrelated to the Guardian Angel Spell?

Just then, Professor Hyp walked over, holding a shallow stone basin in his hand, and the young wizards curiously gathered around to look at it.

"This is... the Pensieve?" a sixth-grade student exclaimed excitedly. "Professor, is this the Pensieve?"

“It’s just a replica,” Felix said with a smile, placing the stone basin on the small table so everyone could see it. “We’ll be using it in a bit.”

In the gray stone basin, there was some silvery substance that looked like liquefied clouds or molten silver, slowly swirling.

Harry remembered that in his first Old Runes class, the professor had introduced this ancient magical artifact, which could store and observe memories. He thought of his own nameless book and couldn't help but wonder if it had a similar function?

Felix sat down, smiling at everyone. "Many of you know that I will be teaching you an ancient spell during the last part of the school year, and I'm glad to see that you have all mastered the runes you will be using."

"I named the Illumination spell myself. I originally thought it could only be used for lighting, but I recently discovered that it is also quite effective against dark creatures and can dispel the dark fog caused by magic... In short, it is a good spell and can be classified as a defensive spell."

As he spoke, Felix uttered strange syllables and made a grabbing motion with his fingers. He deliberately slowed down the process to make everything traceable, and the young wizards craned their necks to look, afraid of missing a single detail.

One after another, ancient runes appeared out of thin air, as if they had always been there, only previously invisible. They were smaller than the tip of a little finger, and these ancient runes intertwined to form an intricate pattern. The next second, milky white light rippled and blossomed from the professor's fingertips.

“I only demonstrated the casting process, not its power. In fact, it’s difficult to assess the upper limit of this magic,” Felix said with a smile. “But I don’t think anyone would be so bored as to exhaust their magic power.”

He suddenly stopped, because more than one young wizard was eager to try. He rubbed his forehead. Well, he had misunderstood. For him, this was boring, but for the young wizards, it was quite interesting entertainment.

So he warned again: "Although this magic is safe enough, the greatest danger is only the discomfort after your magic is drained, but that feeling is very unpleasant. I can only say that if you pass out, you will be glad you did."

The professor's serious attitude made the students quiet down a bit. Felix continued, "Immense power and difficult to control are characteristics of ancient magic, but why is that? Has anyone thought about it?"

The club members started discussing animatedly. After more than half a year, they were no longer novices when it came to ancient runes. When it came to practical runes, they were among the strongest in the magic world.

Although, in Felix's opinion, it was still very weak.

"Because it requires a lot of magic?"

"It's obviously not that. I guess it's because when the runes come together to form a pattern, it explodes if there's a mistake."

Draco Malfoy suddenly spoke up: "My father said that ancient magic is very evil. Once it takes shape, it develops its own consciousness. It can drain the spellcaster's magic power, even their life..."

The discussion subsided, and everyone looked at him with fearful eyes.

Felix clapped his hands. "Well, Malfoy, in a way, I can't say you're wrong. This brings up the question of how we can master an ancient spell..."

"First, the first step is to master all the ancient runes corresponding to the magic, ideally reaching a level of proficiency, that is, to grasp the magical symbolism of the runes themselves;"

Magical runes appeared in the air in front of him, taking various forms before disappearing silently.

"Take the Illumination spell as an example. There is only one core, which symbolizes light. There are six secondary core runes, representing its different characteristics. Outside of that, there are seventeen less important runes."

Felix displayed all these runes, and everyone present mastered them, at least the seven most core runes, reaching a level of proficiency.

"The second step is to combine the runes in a specific order. In ancient times, this was a wizard's greatest secret, and it would not be easily revealed to anyone other than his closest relatives..."

"The reason is simple: the wizards at that time did not have a large number of spells, and they were often similar. Once the spells were leaked, they were easy targets for the enemy."

"Completing this step, while not simple, is not difficult either. The best way is through extensive practice. Apart from certain obscure ancient spells, this step is not very dangerous, especially the illumination spell we are going to talk about today."

Hermione nodded in agreement, and her practice went relatively smoothly. Even when the rune sequence collapsed, it simply turned into pure magic. After each practice session, she would write down her specific insights and review them frequently.

"Finally, we've arrived at the crucial point, where the characteristics of ancient magic are fully demonstrated."

Felix glanced around, satisfied to see all the students listening intently. He continued, "The forms of ancient magic were not fixed. The same spell could be used by one person as a phoenix, and by another as a firebird, a fire lizard, or a fire crab..."

He gave an exaggerated example, and the young wizards chuckled softly.

"Malfoy's first statement is quite correct. Once ancient magic takes shape, it's as if it has its own mind. It instinctively draws upon the spellcaster's magic power to strengthen itself, like a greedy monster. At this point, you must have sufficient ability to control your own magic power to resist this pull."

"Besides, ancient magic has no fixed form, so you must make it obey your commands and operate according to your will... How much magic power do you want to put in? How long do you want to maintain it? What form does it take? Which traits do you want to strengthen? How do you want to end it?"

Felix asked a series of questions, waited quietly for a few seconds, then spread his hands and said, "Unfortunately, there are no fixed answers to any of these; it's all up to you to decide."

"So once you learn powerful offensive magic, you can imagine what will happen if it gets out of control."

Harry followed the professor's train of thought and imagined what it would be like. If it were ancient fire magic, it would be fine before it was fully formed, but if it were to be cast successfully and then become uncontrollable, its magic would be drained, and it would probably just have to watch helplessly as the magic devoured it...