A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

“As for Professor Moody…” He thought for a moment and said uncertainly, “I don’t know if he’s in good condition. His memory has been carefully modified and given many hints, such as not checking his own room, ignoring certain anomalies, and always sleeping soundly until dawn when he’s in bed… This is also why Barty Crouch Jr. dared to sneak into his room through the secret passage without any restraint.”

"He will lose some of his memories, but I don't know exactly what they are. I think he would be very averse to that, given his personality."

Felix looked at Dumbledore questioningly, seeking his opinion. Dumbledore shook his head slightly; he knew his old friend's character—having his memories tampered with was enough to drive him mad.

Mrs. Pomfrey indicated that she understood, but after a moment's hesitation, she asked, "Felix, may I observe you during your treatments these past few days?"

“No problem, ma’am,” Felix readily agreed.

Mrs. Pomfrey thanked her, then pushed open the door to the intensive care unit and went inside. The other three present could see Barty Crouch and Alastor Moody lying quietly in bed, and Professor McGonagall's lips moved slightly.

“Minerva?” Dumbledore looked at her.

"I...I don't doubt it...but shouldn't we take some precautions? What if they're still under the influence of the mysterious man's dark magic..."

“Don’t worry, Minerva,” Felix interjected, smiling. “I have some confidence in memory magic, and their wands are in the headmaster’s hands right now.”

Professor McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief. They went downstairs together, and after a moment of silence, she couldn't help but say, "Albus, you shouldn't have stopped me from deducting points from Potter and Weasley; at the very least, they should have been put in solitary confinement..."

Dumbledore blinked and looked at her with a smile.

“They’re too reckless; they might lose their lives,” Professor McGonagall said.

“Minerva, there’s no need to be so strict. That child just has a sense of responsibility far beyond that of ordinary people,” Dumbledore said softly. “Take this time for example, it’s surprising enough that they thought of using the Marauder’s Map and the Invisibility Cloak, and they also had to be decisive enough. If they had delayed for a few minutes and spent their precious time searching for the professor, we might have seen a completely different scene.”

At least Moody's is definitely not going to survive.

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, her furrowed brows relaxing. "You're right."

……

Felix returned to his office and stood by the window, reflecting on what Dumbledore had just said to him alone.

“Felix, I have a favor to ask you,” Dumbledore said in a deep voice.

"What is it?" Felix asked, anticipating what was to come.

They were standing high up in the castle, the cold north wind howling, the window frames creaking. Dumbledore remained silent for a long time, seemingly making a great decision, before finally saying, "Teach Harry Occlumency."

“No problem,” Felix said immediately. After a moment, he asked softly, “Anything else?”

Another silence fell—

"...Don't hurt him."

……

Felix looked away. It was already past midnight, and a faint gray-green light was appearing on the horizon.

"I'm becoming more and more sentimental, which is unlike me."

"Haw!"

He looked down and saw Niffler Valen standing at the bedroom door, rubbing his eyes with one hand, staggering over, scurrying along his trouser leg, but failing to climb up.

Felix chuckled, then flicked his finger, causing Valen to float in front of him.

"You weren't asleep? Valen, that's really unexpected..."

"Haw!"

Valen waved his little hands, gesturing in the air. Felix stared intently, as if he were writing, trying to decipher the somewhat distorted letters—

"Gift?"

Valen nodded repeatedly.

Felix asked tentatively, "You want to ask Granger how he felt about receiving the gift?"

She nodded with a sniff, her bright black eyes looking at him expectantly.

“She was overjoyed,” Felix said.

Valen was extremely pleased; it was one of its most treasured possessions. The thought of giving it away made its heart bleed. It yawned and opened its arms for a hug.

Felix held Valen and placed him in the cradle.

When he changed into his pajamas and lay in bed, his mood improved without him even realizing it.

Chapter 419 Golden Egg

By the morning of the next day, although Harry and Ron were eager to leave the school hospital as soon as possible, they were too tired from the previous night and their injuries were quite serious. Madam Pomfrey said that Ron's leg was still swollen, while Harry had broken at least six ribs.

"The Healing Charm can only cure minor injuries, such as a twisted nose, and it's only useful in emergencies," Mrs. Pomfrey said at the time, but the two of them suspected that this was just a trick she used to trick them into drinking the medicine.

After drinking the potion, their minds immediately became foggy, like a mechanical alarm clock that had been unwound, spinning slower and slower. Harry and Ron exchanged only a few words before drifting off to sleep. They slept soundly until Hermione came to check on them and woke them up.

Harry recounted what had happened the previous night, deliberately emphasizing that "there was too much of a rush, and I didn't have time to call you." Hermione shrugged. "Unless you shout outside the entire girls' dormitory, you won't be able to get in, and even then, I might not hear you..."

Ron coughed loudly, sounding like a "ball," and Hermione's ears turned red.

The two had a minor disagreement last night.

After the opening dance, Ron criticizes Hermione's pro-enemy behavior while taking a break to drink. Hermione then offers a dry explanation that the purpose of the wrestling match is to "promote communication." Hermione is enraged when Ron loudly proclaims that Krum has no interest in her and only wants to find out the secret of the golden egg.

"He never asked me a single word about the golden egg, never!"

Ron changed tactics at lightning speed.

"Then he definitely wants you to help him figure out the secret of the golden egg!"

“I never helped him study that golden egg!” Hermione was absolutely furious. “In fact, he invited me from the beginning, in the library, but I kept hesitating for some ridiculous champion or something, and guess what? Roger Davis immediately invited Collins, while my two foolish companions just complained that all the pretty girls had been taken!”

Harry looked completely innocent.

He hadn't actually thought of inviting Hermione, but it was because he had a secret thought he couldn't tell anyone: maybe Cedric and Cho Chang had a fight... Well, he knew that was impossible, but the conclusion made him even more frustrated and made him lose interest in the upcoming ball.

In short, after that, Harry and a sullen Ron went to the courtyard for some fresh air and overheard Hagrid and Madam Maxim's conversation, learning that they were both half-giants. Hermione (according to her) stayed in the Great Hall, sulking by herself.

Harry was skeptical about the sulking theory, because when they returned, they saw Hermione happily dancing with Professor Hyp...

After the ball, Harry noticed that Hermione and Ron were silent again. They went back to their dorm and went to sleep with their minds preoccupied, until Harry was awakened by a nightmare and chased after the spies in the castle with Ron... When Harry saw Hermione again this morning, Ron and Hermione were very polite to each other, as if yesterday's argument had never happened.

When Hermione learned that Hagrid was a half-giant, she wasn't surprised at all.

“Actually, I’ve always thought he was a giant,” she said, shrugging. “I know he couldn’t be a pure-blooded giant, because they’re all around twenty feet tall. No need to be so paranoid… It’s a prejudice, like how people treat werewolves… maybe house-elves too… although the two prejudices aren’t the same!”

Ron clearly disagreed with this view, but he simply repeated what he had said to Harry the night before, pretending it was the first time he was introducing him to Harry:

“Hagrid shouldn’t be talking about this everywhere. Although he might be getting a little too excited because it’s the first time he’s met someone like him… I know he’s not dangerous, and everyone who knows him knows that, but it would be troublesome if outsiders overheard. People are sensitive about this.” He snorted twice and said cryptically, “Even if it’s a prejudice, it’s a collective prejudice. When there’s no way to change it, keeping it a secret is the best approach.”

Seeing Hermione open her mouth to retort, he immediately quickened his pace and said to Harry, "In the public's perception, giants are all brutal. Although I heard love stories between giants and dwarfs when I was a child, Fred and George told me... but I haven't believed their nonsense since I was six years old."

Harry suppressed a laugh, pretending it was the first time he'd heard it, and nodded seriously.

“My dad said that they sided with the Mystic during the war, foolishly believing that the Mystic would give them more room to live… As a result, after the war, they were naturally purged, and a large number of giants were killed by the Aurors. Perhaps Professor Moody was involved as well, and his leg injury may have occurred during that time…” Ron speculated irresponsibly.

"...A small tribe of giants who hadn't done much evil was driven out of Britain and is now hiding in some mountain."

Harry didn't think it was right to continue discussing whether giants were inherently cruel, because Hermione's eyebrows were strangely raised. He decided to take the initiative. "Well... Hermione, it's like this, Ron and I saw you were late. You disappeared several hours early yesterday afternoon. Even if you were just fixing your hair, it wouldn't take that long, would it?"

He felt he was talking nonsense, because Hermione's hair had returned to its messy state, and he thought—though he didn't really know—that no one would refuse to become more beautiful if they could maintain it.

Sure enough, Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

“If a girl wants to dress up, no amount of time is ever enough… But that’s not why I wasted time. It was Valen who gave me a Christmas present, and I, uh…” She bit her lip, unsure how to say it.

“We know,” Ron said. “I mean…we heard a little bit about what gift she gave you that made you so excited and lost track of time. It wasn’t a huge sum of Galleons, was it? One of my great-aunts said that only a little golden thing can beat time.”

Harry and Hermione looked at him simultaneously. Ron shrugged. "She died of old age, leaving a will stating that all her wealth should be converted into Galleons to be buried with her, but I'm not sure if her descendants did so..."

“Of course not, it’s a broken time-twister,” Hermione said casually.

"Valen gave you a time-tamper?" Ron exclaimed, his eyes wide.

“Nothing to be surprised about, it’s just a broken one,” Hermione said, using the same word “nothing to be surprised about” to retort to him, but Ron didn’t understand at all.

“Take it out and let me see it! Hermione, I’ve never seen a Time-Turner before!” Ron said.

Harry looked at her expectantly. "Did you bring it?"

Hermione's eyes crinkled. "Of course," she said, pulling a golden chain from her chest. It was a small, disc-shaped timer with a gold frame around the outside and a tiny hourglass inside. The design was exquisite.

"This is the time converter? It looks really beautiful... Are you sure it's broken?"

Hermione didn't say anything, just glanced at them twice, and then stuffed it back into her clothes.

“There’s nothing much to see here. Let’s focus our time on cracking the secret of the golden egg,” she said enthusiastically. “I’ve finally come up with a plan that I’m confident I can implement without damaging its structure…”

Harry and Ron stared hesitantly at the golden egg she had brought, which sat on a nearby cabinet. Harry glanced at his pajamas; if the egg started screaming uncontrollably while they were analyzing it, they'd have a hard time even getting out.

He didn't want to embarrass himself by wearing pajamas in the castle corridor during the day.

But Hermione had already made up her mind.

She stood up, hugged the golden egg to her chest, and casually pulled Harry's pillow over, placing it under the egg. Harry and Ron watched nervously from the side, offering suggestions all at once:

"We can try the revealing potion—"

“I’ve tried it,” Hermione said.

"The revealing spell, the eraser, the dispelling spell—"

“It’s all useless.” Hermione fiddled with the golden egg and drew her wand.

"How about trying Adrian's deconstruction method? He touts it quite impressively in his book—"

“Well,” Hermione put down her wand and said to the two of them, “to be honest, I did use some of the techniques he mentioned, mainly because I found that he really liked to figure out these shortcuts…which is one of the reasons why later generations don’t think highly of him.”

Ron gave Harry a look that said, "I knew it."

While Hermione was at it, she placed her wand on the golden egg and tapped it, occasionally pausing to listen or recite a few Latin spells. Harry and Ron understood some of her techniques, since they were reading the same books—just at different paces and levels of comprehension.

“She used a layering method,” Harry whispered to Ron.

This method is commonly used in alchemy. The principle is to remove everything that can be removed, such as protective charms, decorations, and those minor functions, to get straight to the core secret. It is especially suitable for alchemy novices.

Hermione would occasionally take out bottles and jars from her beaded pouch, apply the potion to the golden egg with a small brush, and remove a piece of eggshell amidst the two's shocked expressions.

"Hermione, Hermione, you took it apart?"

“Because it doesn’t matter,” Hermione said, tearing off another piece as she spoke.

Harry felt utterly helpless, as if he had returned to the time years ago when he lived with the Dursleys, in the cupboard under the stairs, where he would anxiously wait for Dudley to come upstairs every evening—he would deliberately stomp on the steps with great force to shake off the dust.

And now, he felt the same way. He didn't know which piece of the golden egg he had broken into when it would suddenly let out a chilling sound and startle everyone.