A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

All eyes were fixed on his eyes, trying to see into his deepest thoughts, but Felix simply said calmly, "What I'm curious about is, my friends, when the choice comes again, are you ready? Which side will you choose?"

"Felix Heap! What are you advocating?!"

A fat sorcerer roared, his voice distorted with fear: "You want to give orders and command us?! And that crazy old man, a liar, I shouldn't have participated in this damned—"

His words abruptly stopped, his entire body trembled, making a "hoarse" sound, and then he convulsed and collapsed. In just a few seconds, Felix pulled him into the mind-room seven times, scorching the surface of his consciousness with intense flames. Although it was only a projection of his true consciousness, the pain was undeniably real. He would have to lie in bed for at least two weeks.

"...I see the future I envision and have decided to dedicate myself to it, and I am prepared to face any obstacles." Felix concluded his speech.

Chapter 322 Imagination Meets Reality

Draco Malfoy's nose was glistening with sweat, his nostrils flared with excitement, and his pale cheeks flushed slightly. He had never heard such an exciting speech before. Professor Hyp's performance was simply perfect, composed, elegant, and effortless—the ideal Slytherin he had always envisioned.

In particular, he even used some kind of magic in front of everyone to make that fat, bloated guy faint.

Although he was summoned and reprimanded by Headmaster Dumbledore after the funeral...

Draco stood beside a standing flower tower with a white spire, stealing glances at a secluded corner where Dumbledore and Professor Heap stood. Dumbledore's expression was serious, while Professor Heap smiled and explained something, with snippets of his explanation escaping his lips: "...I've only recently learned...a lesson..."

On the other side was a small group of people in an awkward atmosphere: his parents, Potter, Sirius Black, the pink-haired woman, Professor Lupin, the Weasleys, and Aunt Andromeda's family who had visited his future home—most of these people could be connected to the Malfoy family. He was already used to all sorts of relatives popping up, but unless his father deliberately introduced them, he wouldn't pay any attention.

The only exception was his Aunt Andromeda. The image of her arguing with his mother when he was a child left a deep impression on him, and even after many years, he still remembered that such a person existed. Especially in astronomy class, when the professor introduced the Andromeda constellation, he would also think of an aunt with the same name. She looked a lot like another aunt he had never met, although his mother never mentioned her two older sisters, but he had seen photos of them when they were young when he was flipping through photo albums.

These three are easy to distinguish: the eldest sister is outgoing and slightly mean-spirited, with black curly hair; the second sister, Andromeda, has light brown hair and gentler features; and the youngest is their mother, with long blonde hair.

Draco looked the wizard next to his Aunt Andromeda up and down, scrutinizing him. This was the Muggle wizard his aunt had chosen? He didn't look like much... blond, big belly, and apart from his gentle and patient voice, he didn't have anything particularly outstanding.

"Draco, let's go!" Narcissa shouted angrily at him. Reunions after a long separation are not always pleasant, and the two sisters parted on bad terms again. Draco quickly followed, and the family left.

Soon, Felix and Dumbledore finished their conversation. He walked over with a relaxed expression and found the Weasleys, who were planning to leave with Ron, and talked to them about the Weasley twins.

"I don't know if they told you that I promised to show them some new and interesting things during the summer vacation."

Mrs. Weasley looked somewhat troubled. She had always opposed the brothers' pranks, but she didn't have a good solution. Besides, she had few supporters in the family except for Percy—they only unconditionally supported her when she was angry.

“Arthur—” she looked at her husband.

Mr. Weasley said sternly, “Oh, of course, of course, Fred and George mentioned it, when Molly tried to spank them—cough! You know, the .ls exam results,” he touched his receding hairline, “that each of them got four certificates, not even as many as his brother combined… May I ask what they were about?”

“You could think of it as a special kind of social practice,” Felix said. “I wanted to show them a Muggle factory, the machinery, the ideas, and so on. Coincidentally, my new company also has this need—”

“Can I attend?” Mr. Weasley asked immediately. Mrs. Weasley nudged him with her elbow, and he glanced guiltily at his wife. “Well, I mean… it makes a lot of sense, Molly, I must admit it. It’s good for Fred and George.”

Mrs. Weasley puffed out her chest like a bullfrog. "Arthur, they still have two years before graduation. If they start taking it seriously now..."

“Molly, you and I both know they’re not interested in this. We can’t make the decision for them,” Mr. Weasley insisted.

He left his address, saying, "Professor Hyp, you are welcome to visit anytime." He then left with his family.

In the evening, at the .a building.

In a makeshift office on the third floor, Felix met Severus Snape.

He sat in a swivel chair, turning his body slightly. "So, you have an interview tomorrow, and you're not ready for your company yet?" His words carried a clear accusatory tone.

“I’ve already bought the shop and the building materials. I’m going to build it myself,” Felix sighed. “I’ve been busy reading lately, and it feels like I’ve walked into a treasure trove where everything I bend down to pick up is a gem.”

Have you sent out your interview invitations?

"Of course, I had them send the job postings to Andy at .a Building, but Dobby was actually in charge of receiving them. I took some time to look through them. Some of the people I remembered were easy to decide on, but others will require more effort from you, Severus."

Snape looked surprised. "You really want me to interview you?"

"Oh, it's me and you together."

Felix took a silver pocket watch from his breast pocket, pressed the clasp, and the cover popped open gently. A sniffler poked its head out, its pink snout twitching.

"This is... a Niffler."

“You can call her Valen.” Niffler climbed up Felix’s arm and onto his shoulder, glancing around warily. Then it took a Merlin Medal out of its pocket, hugged it tightly, and clung to Felix, drifting into a sweet dream.

“Wiseengamo will regret awarding you this award if he sees it,” Snape said.

“True honor cannot be taken away,” Felix said with a smile.

The next morning, the two stood in a wide open space in Diagon Alley. The previous buildings had all been demolished and replaced by piles of bricks and stones. A single cone-shaped sand dune was as tall as the two-story building next to it.

"What are you going to do?" Snape asked.

“Build a house with magic,” Felix said, extending his palm. Fine golden lines appeared on his hand, weaving together to form a somewhat ethereal, three-dimensional castle-like structure. It was transparent; if viewed through a magnifying glass, one could even see the layers of interior space and the patterns carved on the massive supporting pillars. A spiral staircase connected all parts of the building, and the hall went straight up from the center. If a person stood there, they could see directly the huge, ice-crystal-like chandelier hanging from the top.

Felix tossed the miniature structure in his hand, which transformed into a streak of light, landing in the center of the arena. It then rapidly expanded and grew larger, taking over the originally ugly, grayish-brown ground and radiating a bright magical glow.

People on the street stopped and pointed, and a young couple looked on in surprise.

Felix waved his ebony wand, and the building materials piled on the ground melted like water—white marble, brown sand, gray pebbles… A vortex appeared on the ground, sucking everything in, and then the ground churned and rose up with huge, murky bubbles.

"It reminds me of brewing potions," Snape said, concealing his true feelings.

Under their watchful eyes, a building began to slowly grow upwards.

The illusory 3D image came into reality. Various materials emerged from the vortex like small snakes, filling the building that only existed in imagination. Layer upon layer, it stretched upwards from the foundation, and finally, a 100-foot-tall standing castle appeared, exactly the same as the miniature model that Felix had been holding.

Every straight line and every pattern from bottom to top converges upwards and inwards, staggered and orderly, forming a combined force that eventually gathers at the very top of the building, pointing straight to the sky. From a distance, it looks like a sharp blade drawn from its sheath, inspiring awe.

A black stone tablet emerged from the ground, inscribed with a string of gilded characters: "Future World".

"Oh, and there are also the seeds recommended by Professor Sprout."

As Felix spoke, he carefully took two dark brown seeds out of his pocket and dropped them at the entrance of the building. Under the influence of magic, they quickly sprouted, grew, and sent out branches that twisted and formed ancient and heavy blue steps that stretched all the way to their feet.

“Severus, please allow me to formally introduce you,” Felix said with a smile, extending his hand politely. “You are our first guest.”

Chapter 323 Penelope

"Percy, did you see that?"

"...I saw it."

In a corner of Diagon Alley, Percy and Penelope stared at each other blankly. Percy asked her, "Do you think Professor Hyp is here as a guest?"

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Penelope clenched her fist excitedly. “We should have realized this sooner; the job posting reveals a lot—”

"You mean ancient runes and the veneration of Muggle items?" Percy realized what he meant. "Luckily we came at the last minute; the previous times we came, this was just an empty lot."

Percy and Penelope came over more than once, and even followed the job posting to the .a building. The staff of this revitalized comic book company led them to a house-elf, who was dressed even more elegantly than they were and had a private office. He didn't reveal much information, only insisting that the interview location remained the same and that they should come on time, saying, "You definitely won't regret it."

Percy is starting his job at the Ministry of Magic in a few days, and today is their last visit, which is when they happen to witness this scene.

……

Felix and Snape entered the Futureworld Tower. Felix's fingertips traced a bronze nut. "Dobby," he whispered.

"laugh!"

With a slight rustling sound, a house-elf dressed in an elegant butler's uniform appeared, bowing deeply. "Mr. Hyp, Dobby is at your service." He looked up, surveying his surroundings. "Is this our new company? It looks a bit dark..."

“Of course, it also lacks lighting,” Felix said, extending his finger forward. The runes converged, transforming into a palm-sized, milky-white sphere of light. It spun upwards and landed in the huge, ice-crystal-like fractal chandelier at the top of the building, illuminating the entire structure.

“It can last for a while. In a couple of days, I’ll make another stable rune item.” He said thoughtfully, “This might become the company’s first product.”

"A magic lamp?" Snape pondered. "A good idea."

Felix clapped his hands. "The interview starts at nine o'clock, so we have about two hours. We can use that time to make some adjustments—"

He stopped talking when a young couple pushed open the door from the outside. "Professor?" Penelope said nervously.

Felix nodded to her. "You're here earlier than I expected. Well... I've seen your grades. It's not really necessary, but let's go through the formalities anyway."

He told Dobby, “If anyone comes early for an interview, take them to that room on the second floor.” He pointed to a spacious room on the second floor with a huge double door made of burgundy chestnut wood, carved with openwork patterns.

“Yes, Mr. Hyp,” Dobby said cheerfully.

As the group walked up the spacious, steeply spiral staircase, Percy took the opportunity to examine the reliefs on the dome. They were a series of scenes pieced together, including wizards holding wands, people dressed as Muggles, some holding various glass tubes, some pondering complex mechanical structures, and others holding a brass balance scale.

He struggled to understand why these people were grouped together; they seemed to come from all walks of life. So Percy stared at the images of the wizards and identified a few of them who shared a common trait—they were known for discovering or inventing highly significant spells.

For example, he saw Summerby, who invented the Joyful Charm; Flavius ​​Belby, who discovered a way to banish Voldemort; and Glover Shipworth, who invented the Energy Tonic… Percy speculated that the Muggles he didn't know must also be similar figures? Discovered or invented something?

“Miss Krivat, write this down, we can make the stairs move,” said Felix, who was walking ahead.

“What? Oh, okay,” Penelope said, rummaging through her pockets. Percy kindly handed her a small notebook and a quill pen, saying, “This is what I prepared in advance…”

“Thank you, Percy.” She quickly jotted it down.

Felix offered some further suggestions: "We need some decorations... but that's not urgent; the employees can decorate according to their own preferences. However, we still need to prepare some tables, chairs, paper, pens, ink, plants, and the like. Draw up a list, and you can discuss it with Dobby."

He glanced at Penelope: "Sorry, we're short-staffed, I'll need you to do some odd jobs for now..."

“It’s alright, Professor, I can quickly familiarize myself with this place,” Penelope said, jotting down the instructions. “Is Dobby the house-elf from earlier?”

"That's right. It's important to note that he is an employee of the company, just like you, not someone's servant."

"Is he a wild elf?" Penelope asked in surprise.

“He likes to call himself Dobby the Free,” Felix replied with a smile.

They entered the large room on the second floor. If it weren't for the lack of furniture, chairs, carpets, and other decorations, it would be hard to imagine that everything here had just been installed. Percy stroked the exquisite carving on the windowsill, which seemed to be a sniffler...

Felix conjured up some Hogwarts-style long tables and chairs. He and Snape sat on one side of the table, while Penelope and Percy sat on the other. But soon, the interview turned into a discussion about the company's business scope, management system, and daily operations.

Percy greatly admired the Ministry of Magic's management methods and suggested that they be copied completely, but this was met with strong opposition from his girlfriend.

“Percy, the Ministry of Magic’s management style is too cold and rigid. For a long time to come, we won’t have many people…” She looked at Felix for confirmation, and Felix nodded gently. She turned her head and said, “You see, if there are only a dozen or a few dozen people, a friendly atmosphere is more important.”

“Precisely because there are so few people, some rules should be established as soon as possible, which is good for everyone,” Percy insisted.

“Rules are necessary, but they don’t need to be so rigid,” Penelope said patiently. “The future world is primarily focused on research and development; it’s completely different from the Ministry of Magic…”

Felix and Snape sat quietly to the side, watching them argue. Both of them had a stubborn streak, but they were also rational people who were willing to reason. After half an hour, Percy was persuaded.

At this point, Felix said with a smile, "It seems you've reached a consensus."

"Let me share my thoughts. As Miss Crevatt said, the purpose of the future world is to provide convenience for all wizards and make their lives better. In other words, our thinking must be ahead of the entire wizarding world. We are the future."

“A relaxed environment is essential. I won’t impose too many restrictions. However, some of the Ministry of Magic’s practices have their merits. For example, the paper airplanes that Percy mentioned were very interesting to me when I first saw them.”

"Knock knock!"

Dobby appeared, knocking on the door. "Mr. Hyp, there's an interviewee. He says his name is Remus Lupin."

Snape jumped up. "I'll go get him." Without waiting for Felix's reply, he hurried out of the room.

Felix shook his head and hurriedly followed. The two had fought before, and their relationship was really complicated. But another fight wouldn't hurt. He just needed to get Percy and Penelope away.