A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

Tonks gave a soft hum. "You're too strict."

At that moment, Kingsley, with his dark skin, opened his briefcase, waved his wand lightly, and a piece of parchment flew out. The parchment was covered with dense writing, and there were already several handwritten signatures in the bottom column.

“We can catch up later, Alastor,” Kingsley said in his characteristically deep, slow voice. “We’re on a mission. The senior officials in the department are all very busy. I’m here on behalf of the Minister for Magic, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Wizengamor, and the Auror’s Office to question you about what has happened to you over the past few months. They have some questions prepared… Headmaster Dumbledore?”

Kingsley glanced cautiously at Dumbledore.

“Ah, let’s go out first. Kingsley and Alastor are old acquaintances, they won’t clash.” Dumbledore said to everyone with a smile, then called to Snape, who was the first to leave, “Wait a moment, Severus, I have a few small questions about the analysis report you gave me.”

As everyone left the ward, Mrs. Pomfrey closed the door. Felix glimpsed Kingsley and Moody on the bed embracing through the last gap, and then the door slammed shut.

Sirius whispered, "Headmaster Dumbledore, my substitute teaching position..."

“Sirius,” Dumbledore’s tone became more serious, “I won’t reject your application, but it’s clear you’re not ready to be a professor yet—”

"But my grades are very good!" Sirius said angrily, glaring at Snape who was standing to the side with a mocking expression, wishing he could punch him in the face.

“I’m not referring to grades, you should know that,” Dumbledore said.

Sirius's face showed a forlorn expression again. Harry wanted to say something for his godfather, but Professor Hyp across from him shook his head slightly, so he had to hold back his good words.

“Albus, Professor Moody’s contract is only for one year?” Felix said softly.

Dumbledore smiled knowingly. "Yes, Alastor has retired, and I don't want to overwork him. This year's situation is quite special... The thought of having to rewrite a job advertisement in six months is really giving me a headache."

In the outer corridor of the university hospital, Dumbledore and Snape walked upstairs, seemingly heading towards the Headmaster's office. Felix guessed that the analysis report Dumbledore had mentioned earlier was about the residual potion they found in the Chamber of Secrets, most likely the one Voldemort used to prevent his body from collapsing.

However, it wasn't the right time to ask questions. He turned to Sirius, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville, and asked them, "I need to go see Hagrid. You guys..."

“Me too,” Harry said immediately. Ron and Hermione nodded like chicks pecking at rice, while Neville looked around and scratched his head.

“Let’s do it together then, maybe you can be of some help,” Felix said cheerfully. Seeing Harry’s puzzled look, he explained, “Hagrid’s Blasttails are growing too fast, and what’s worse, they don’t need to hibernate yet, and they’re incredibly energetic. Hagrid asked me to forge some chains to prevent these aggressive creatures from surviving the first winter…”

The young wizards, who were no strangers to the Bombtail, turned pale.

They walked out of the castle, trudging through the snow. The biting wind pierced through their thick clothes, and the young wizards shivered. Sirius, though pale, looked much better than when he had been so devastated.

Felix waved his wand. "Warmth Charm—one of the most useful spells in winter, if you haven't bought a thermostatic locket."

They immediately felt warm all over, their pace slowed, and walking on the snow became a winter pleasure. Harry marveled, and Hermione asked in surprise, "Professor, what's the spell for this magic?"

"Warm as a furnace."

"Is it easy to learn? If I learn it, will it achieve the same effect as a temperature-controlled locket?" Ron asked.

“Your two older brothers asked me the same question,” Felix said with a laugh, “but unfortunately, it only works in winter.”

Ron pouted. "Now I finally understand why they're so invincible in snowball fights."

“Professor, who is Mrs. Burns?” Harry thought of the name Tonks had mentioned; the surname sounded familiar.

“Amelia Borns is the current head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and she has a very good reputation,” Felix said simply.

“Susan Burns’ aunt,” Hermione whispered, and Harry realized.

"Sirius, do you know her?" Harry asked his godfather, feeling that Sirius should know her based on their earlier behavior.

Sirius thought for a moment, then clicked his tongue and said, "I vaguely remember... She was four years ahead of me in school, a very smart and serious witch," he muttered under his breath, "I think I made her cry once."

"What's going on?" Hermione asked with great interest.

“Oh, that was a long time ago…” He saw Harry looking at him with interest and said helplessly, “You should know that you can’t cast spells in the school corridors…”

Harry and the others nodded.

“When I first enrolled, I was showing off my glowing charm in the hallway. Of course, I made some improvements… Amelia happened to see it and seized the opportunity to deduct points from my grade. She was the prefect at the time…”

“I don’t think the prefect should have the authority to deduct points,” Ron muttered, recalling the time when Percy deducted points from him in his second year.

Sirius smiled understandingly: "Remus is also a prefect, and I happen to know some inside information. Prefects can't just deduct points arbitrarily. They have to write an explanation for each point they deduct, and there are other restrictions... For example, Amelia only deducted two points from me."

“That doesn’t sound like much,” Harry said.

“Yes,” Sirius said with a sigh, “but I was very unconvinced at the time, so I went right under her nose and continued to use the Light Charm. Multicolored lights flashed on her glasses... She was naturally very unhappy and deducted points from my score. I continued to chant the spell, and we were at a stalemate for a long time. In the end, I lost about two hundred points.”

Harry and the others stared wide-eyed.

Sirius smiled slyly: "Actually, it's because it's only been a short time since the start of the semester, and the scores for each house aren't high. I remember Gryffindor only has a few rubies in their hourglass?"

"You just got away with it like that?" Harry asked incredulously.

“It’s not that simple. I was put in solitary confinement for a week,” Sirius said nonchalantly. “But Amelia didn’t fare well either. I heard she wrote those reports while crying.”

Harry thought it best not to tell Susan Burns about it, as she adored her aunt, while Ron thought the opposite.

“How about we hold a dueling study group, Harry? It’s been a long time since the last one,” Ron suggested eagerly. “We can ask Sirius to be our mentor.”

Sirius was somewhat tempted, but still refused, saying, "I can't just go into Hogwarts. Hagrid helped me this time."

They arrived at Hagrid's hut, where Hagrid was busy in the pumpkin patch behind the hut. There were only a dozen or so burrowing snails left, but they had grown quite a bit and were still full of energy even in the snowy winter.

"You've come?" Hagrid said breathlessly. He roared and lunged forward at a snapping snail that had broken free of its restraints. After a while, he got up from the snow, and everyone saw that the snapping snail that had been pressed under his body was no longer moving.

"It's dead?" Felix asked.

“Not yet,” Hagrid said gruffly. “It’s probably passed out.” He turned the Blasttail over, picked up a thick rope from the side, and tied it to the middle of its body—Felix guessed it was the Blasttail’s waist, if that’s the kind of creature had that body structure.

He approached and gently poked the sunken, thick shell of the Bombtail with his wand. Its legs twitched weakly a couple of times, proving that it was still alive.

Felix quickly cast a spell on the chains, telling Hagrid, "I've left some gaps, but if they continue to grow, they may need to be widened later."

“I understand,” Hagrid said gruffly. “That’s fine.”

As they sat on the blankets in Hagrid's hut, Hagrid was still feeling sorry for the Blasttails: "They're pretty docile and don't hurt people much... but they like to fight amongst themselves. I'm not sure which side is influencing them, maybe the Sphinx or the Scorpion. They're usually solitary."

The hot tea Harry was holding no longer tasted good.

Felix said, "It's best not to release them yet; Severus is researching the medicinal value of this creature—"

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Neville suddenly coughed violently. "Oh, sorry..." he said with a terrified expression.

"What's wrong with him?" Hagrid asked, puzzled, and reached out to pat Neville, who immediately fell to the ground.

Ron said understandingly, "He probably thought about the materials he would need to deal with later..." Hearing this, Harry suddenly felt uncomfortable. Snape had a habit of punishing students by making them deal with disgusting potion ingredients, especially those that were not very precious and could be mass-produced.

Whether it's the slimy, limp larvae of the blasting snails or their slime, if Snape finds some wonderful use for them, it will definitely become a nightmare for future students.

And Harry is certain that these people will be among the first students to be victimized.

Hagrid handed Neville a towel, which Neville took. The towel immediately started moving on its own, wiping his face, chin, and clothes haphazardly. "Oh, sorry, that's an automatic cleaning device!" Hagrid snatched it back apologetically.

“N-nothing,” Neville said, his face pale.

Hagrid looked at him hesitantly and brought out a plate of hard biscuits from the inner room. “You can try this.” Neville politely picked up a biscuit, but seeing Harry, Ron, and Hermione shake their heads firmly and slowly, he immediately put it down.

Fortunately, Hagrid didn't notice this. He was talking to Felix: "The Blasttail shed some shells. I don't know if they'll be of any use to you, but I've saved some for you."

Felix nodded. "This is a new material that no one has seen before, but I think it should have the characteristics of both a human-headed lion-bodied scorpion-tailed beast and a fire crab. It's just hard to say which one it leans more towards. If it is the former, its value will be enormous."

“Mr. Scamander doesn’t talk to me much about these things; we just discuss some tips on raising magical creatures,” Hagrid said gruffly. “We’re not on the same page… but some of his advice has been very helpful.”

Harry knew Hagrid was referring to the one in Room 7. Suddenly remembering something, he asked, "I've heard that many ghosts like that place?"

“Yes, I have seen quite a few,” Hagrid said. “I heard they’re planning to ask Headmaster Dumbledore to find a cook’s memory, which is pretty far-fetched… but they’re much more active than they were decades ago.”

"Do they have any candidates?" Ron asked, as he was usually very interested in these strange things.

“There is one,” Hagrid muttered, “Horace Slughorn, the fat monk was very impressed with him, saying that when he was in school he would sneak into the kitchen every night for a midnight snack, without fail.”

Harry knew the fat monk, the ghost of Hufflepuff, but he didn't know who Slughorn was.

"Is it that Potions Master?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"You know him?" Hagrid glanced at her. "He's quite an interesting person. He was there when I was in school. He's the head of Slytherin House. Sirius definitely knows him."

They looked at Sirius, who was sitting on the sofa holding Tooth, casually scratching Tooth's chin, making it hum contentedly. He said slowly, "Of course I know, an old man who likes to enjoy life, he founded the infamous Slug Club, which gathers quite a few Death Eaters—"

“What?” Harry exclaimed in surprise.

“Oh, don’t worry, he has nothing to do with Death Eaters,” Sirius said, noticing that Harry and the others’ expressions were still stiff and frozen. He explained, “He’s just a pampered old man who likes mead, pineapple preserves, and three-tiered sofas…” He glanced at Felix, “I bet he’s got his eye on your company. When I went to see Remus, I saw a chair that was his favorite.”

When the chair was mentioned, Hagrid's expression became strange, his eyes wandering to a toolbox in the corner, next to which stood a red umbrella.

"...He has the common Slytherin flaws: he likes to build connections everywhere, is vain, and doesn't think much of people without potential. Of course, he's much better than the current Headmaster."

Felix gave him a reproachful look.

Sirius spread his hands. “I’m telling the truth. Okay, let’s ignore that unpleasant bat-man,” he continued. “Besides his love of material things, he has a magical ability to always spot students with potential. He builds a platform for these people to exchange ideas, hoping to reap the rewards someday. He likes that feeling.”

“Those Death Eaters—” Harry pressed.

“I’ve already said that besides ability, he also values ​​lineage, and you should know what most Slytherin students are like,” Sirius said. “Not many people get in based solely on ability, but Harry, your mother is one of the best.”

“My mother?” Harry was shocked again. He didn’t know why he was so quick to refute, but he did it anyway. “But, but she’s Gryffindor!”

“She got in on her own merit,” Sirius said. “Lily is very talented in potions. During the war, her potions saved many people, especially when she was being chased by Voldemort. At that time, we could only hide in safe houses, but she was still making a difference.”

His tone sombered, "If she and James survive, Lily will definitely become the most dazzling Potions Master. What about Snape..."

Sirius snorted twice, his contempt evident in his expression.

"And what about you?" Harry asked, eager to know more, not about Professor Slughorn, but about Sirius and his parents.

"Me and James?"

“And Professor Lupin,” Harry said. “I mean, Remus.”

Sirius laughed. "Back then, well... I was a bit rebellious," he winked at Harry. "I couldn't stand his behavior, especially after Regulus joined the club. I didn't want to get involved anymore. James's situation was similar to mine, but he was more annoyed by the sheer number of Slytherins there..."

"As for Remus, he is excellent in both character and academics, but as you know, his background is a big problem."

“But I heard that his identity is a secret, and not many people discovered he was a werewolf during his school years,” Harry asked, puzzled.

“I can explain that,” Felix said. “You can’t expect to fool a powerful wizard, especially one who is also a potions master.”

……

The following week flew by. After the holiday given to employees by the 'Future World' company, Felix moved to Diagon Alley and spent the last few days improving new products. Before he knew it, the new Hogwarts term had begun.

Chapter 427 Shop No. 7

The day before school started, the last festive atmosphere of Christmas had not yet dissipated, and Diagon Alley was covered in a blanket of white.

This year's Diagon Alley is quite different from previous years—most of the shops are decorated with Christmas lights, a gift from 'Future World'. During this period, as soon as evening falls and before the last rays of sunset have faded, these magical lights are already lit up, illuminating a small open space in front of them.