A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

So he said, “Your idea isn’t impossible… but as you can probably guess, magic comes at a high price…” He deliberately used a very obvious mercenary tone.

“I brought money,” the man quickly said, then cautiously added, to avoid looking like a sucker, “I only brought a third of it. If you can really grant my… wish, I’ll pay you the rest.”

“Money is useless to me. For a wizard, there are many things more important than money. You have—” Felix said in a low voice.

"You want my eyes!?"

Felix rolled his eyes. "I hate these kinds of horror stories, they're full of baseless fantasies... I have one myself, and I even have one more than you." He suddenly grinned, pointing to his forehead. A blue light emanated from the center of his forehead, and within the layers of blue halo, an eye slowly opened.

"what--!"

To Felix's surprise, after the scream, the uninvited guest's eyes widened even more. Showing no intention of fleeing, he excitedly pressed on, asking, "What price do I need to pay? My soul? My health? My appearance? My lifespan?"

“I’m not familiar with demons,” Felix muttered, then hesitated before saying, “Come in.”

He turned around, and a layer of eerie silver light silently enveloped the entire room. The ruins and piles of fugitives in the room disappeared before his eyes; the dusty floor turned into a red carpet; the rubble and shards of glass flew to the ceiling and turned into small orange lamps; and the fugitives turned into lush green potted plants, piled up in the corner.

The dilapidated chair seemed to have been repainted, the backrest constantly stretching and rising, two pieces of clothing quickly tangling around the chair to become two armrests, and several clothes racks supporting semi-circular dark arches...

When an unfamiliar visitor enters, they are greeted by a small concert hall with a piano standing in the center. Opposite the piano is a single-seat audience section, occupying the best spot.

"So, do wizards also like listening to music?"

"Ha!" Felix chuckled, settling into the chair—a black cloak suddenly appeared around him, obscuring his face despite the bright lights in the room. Two silver beams shone from the hood. Felix said in a low, husky voice, "Ready to make a deal with a wizard?"

"What do you need, sir wizard?"

"A memory, your most beautiful memory."

The man froze, then hesitated before saying, "I don't even know what my best memories are. All I've had in the past six months is pain..."

“It’s alright, your heart will tell me the answer. So… the deal is done?” Felix said, inwardly feeling that he should have prepared a pair of bat wings and an arrow-shaped tail beforehand.

But thinking about wings...

Felix suddenly drifted off into thought. He had a brilliant idea: perhaps he could create a brand new flying magical artifact—a set of wings. He felt that sitting on a broomstick looked a bit silly, but he decided to wait and think it through before telling Remus.

"...Mr. Wizard? Do I need to sign anything?"

"What did you say?"

"It's something like a contract, between a demon... I mean, the kind that a wizard signs with an ordinary person."

“No need. Do you think I’m afraid you’ll renege on your debt?” Felix said casually, leaning back in his chair.

……

A crisp piano melody rang out, the first few notes a little hesitant, a result of his injured hand. But soon, the tune became flowing, melodious and graceful. Felix half-closed his eyes, gently tapping out the rhythm. Not long after, he frowned. The style of the melody before him had completely changed. It was as if the cold, mournful moonlight had suddenly transformed into a high-pitched, stirring battle hymn; you'd only caught a couple of notes before it became a babbling brook, a low, solemn forest horn…

This is no longer music; it's noise.

But this 'contractor' played with great joy, especially after realizing what the happiest memories were. He had poured his entire being into the music, because after tonight he would lose this joy forever...

Felix felt a pure, radiant joy. His Dementor powers allowed him to easily detect and distinguish these emotions. A golden vortex seemed to form in the courtyard, constantly expanding outwards. Felix drew his wand, gently twirling it to gather some of the overflowing emotions.

When magic and this precious emotion mix, they form a drop of golden liquid.

His fingertips danced to the rhythm of the piano keys until the moon was obscured by clouds and the howling wind interrupted the music.

"Have a cup of tea, your hands are shaking from the cold," Felix said, as a cup floated shakily to the piano, the liquid inside rippling with golden light.

"It's not frozen, it's naturally like this... What kind of tea is this? It tastes very strange?"

Felix stood up, straightened his back, and said, "Your music is unforgettable. I hope to have the opportunity to see you perform formally someday. Well then... the House of Magic must say goodbye. Have a good day." He waved, and the person opposite him seemed weightless, floating lightly out of the house.

With a bang, the door slammed shut.

“Oh, wizard, you know that’s impossible… Wizard? You haven’t received your payment yet, where am I supposed to find you… Good heavens, the house is gone! Did you do it, wizard…”

The next morning.

The small house, which had been the site of miracles that night, was now packed with people. Two policemen led out a string of fugitives who had spent the night lying on the cold ground, their faces pale and sickly.

In the crowd, a head kept jumping around, trying to see inside.

"What's going on? Have you been captured, wizard—wait, who are they?!"

One of the early arrivals said, "They're said to be a very cunning group of fugitives who were committing crimes in Surrey. I heard they were discovered by a young man who came early this morning to do graffiti and secretly called the police."

"Is that so..." The man paused for a moment, then suddenly raised his hand, showing off, "Uncle, look at my hand, is it still shaking?"

Are you trying to make fun of me?

"Oh, sorry, I was just too happy!"

……

In the ancient spellbook office at Hogwarts, Felix is ​​conversing with Lupin through a telepathic mirror.

"It's just these two things. First, the flight wings—you can name them whatever you want. I'll be making a prototype soon, and you can see how you can improve or simplify them."

"The second thing is to study the secularization of potions. This is not urgent. We can just compile a list of usable potions for now."

"Secularization?"

"It's a magic potion that can be used on ordinary people."

Chapter 429 Professor's Tea Party

"A truly effective potion requires the participation of a wand, but not by foolishly waving it continuously. Just a gentle wave at the crucial moment is enough to cause a miraculous change in the materials in the cauldron..."

“So Muggles can’t appreciate this wonderful process, and neither can Squibs,” Snape said slowly.

On the weekend of the first week after the opening, Professor Flitwick hosted an afternoon tea party under the pretext of celebrating Professor Moody's recovery, although Felix felt that the tough former Auror didn't need such things.

Moody ate what he had brought without touching the exquisite tea and snacks on the table.

His presence here signified the end of Snape's short week-long substitute teaching stint, so he was rather indifferent when Felix inquired about potions.

Snape sat in the soft chair, slowly continuing the previous topic: "We also cannot rule out the following situation: some simple potions can produce effects spontaneously without the participation of a wand, or even without the fine guidance of magic, but that is more like stimulating the original properties of the potion ingredients. In the eyes of someone who truly understands potions, it is merely obtaining a half-finished product."

Felix understood. The pet tonic recipe he gave Filch was for this situation, where a wand wasn't needed. The main ingredient was dragon blood, and the auxiliary ingredients were only meant to stimulate and moderate the properties of the dragon blood.

For wizards, some potions have effects similar to spells, and the choice of which to use depends on the wizard themselves. In other words, they will choose the simplest or most effective method from potions and spells to achieve their goal.

Perhaps money is also an important factor to consider.

For example, the Happy Charm and the Joyful Potions can be substituted for each other in most cases. The Happy Charm is taught in the third-year Charms class, while the Joyful Potions are only taught in the sixth-year Advanced Potions class. However, if you neglect this seemingly insignificant Charms class, it will not be easy to learn the Happy Charm on your own, especially since a poorly executed Happy Charm can cause side effects such as hysteria and uncontrollable laughter.

In this situation, most wizards would choose to buy a potion of joy from a pharmacy.

Flitwick waved his wand, causing an enamel teapot to bend over and fill the cup in front of him. "I've heard that some wizards use magical rituals instead of wands when brewing potions, Severus?"

“And the constantly repeated spells…” Snape, “This usually happens in the Middle Ages, when some shallow wizards cannot control their own magic, and naturally cannot guide and manipulate it precisely, so they are no different from Squibs, so they choose this method.”

Felix muttered, "I feel like I've seen a similar law somewhere before."

“I guess it’s a Muggle fairy tale? There are indeed some careless wizards who were discovered and then burned to death,” Snape said, glancing at him.

“That was a long time ago, we’d better talk about something else,” Professor McGonagall said uneasily, turning to the side. “Professor Moody, are you planning to return to the classroom next Monday?”

“It’s been dragging on long enough,” Moody said, tearing into a piece of chicken that looked rather bland. “I was planning to finish it during the holidays so I wouldn’t miss any classes! But Professor Heap insists on completing the final round of examinations…”

"Has your memory not returned yet?" Professor McGonagall asked him, but her gaze shifted to Felix.

“Voldemort’s methods are brutal, and he has lost more memories than I initially estimated. Perhaps it’s because his soul has also been tainted by dark magic?” Felix said softly.

“At least I haven’t become an idiot, have I?” Moody said gruffly, letting out a short laugh. He reached for the cup on the table with his greasy hand, but stopped as if he had been electrocuted the moment his fingertips touched it.

He silently took the wine flask from his waist and gulped it down. After finishing, he breathed heavily, "I threw away the old one, this one is brand new, Albus gave it to me... He's very considerate in these things."

'Actually, it does have an impact,' Felix thought. 'It's not just the memory issue; his reactions will also slow down, and his combat power will be far less than before.'

What he has been doing during this period is to eliminate the adverse effects as much as possible.

Moody gritted his teeth, tore off a piece of chicken, and chewed it greedily. He said nonchalantly, "Compared to old Barty, I'm doing pretty well. His health is failing, and he probably won't last more than a few years in Azkaban."

"Barty Crouch is locked up?" Flitwick asked sharply.

Several eyes turned to him. Moody said gruffly, "That's right, Kingsley told me. He insisted on it. He spoke with Fudge alone before being taken to prison." Seeing the strange looks from the others, he roughly waved his hand, almost hitting Flitwick's nose. "Oh, sorry, Professor Flitwick, don't ask me. I don't know what they talked about either. Maybe it's related to Voldemort?"

"As for whether Fudge will believe it, nobody knows." He took another big gulp. "That guy seems indecisive, but he's actually quite stubborn and wishful thinking. But anyway, he doesn't seem to want to cause too much panic, so he suppressed the Batty matter. Many people still think he's retired!"

He grinned, giving a sarcastic smile.

"I can't listen to him. There are some things I need to warn everyone about; it's better than being completely unaware when things come to a head."

“Professor Moody,” Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, “you, uh, you’re not planning to do something to the young wizard, are you? Some of your previous actions…” She quickly cleared her throat, looking embarrassed.

"Are you thinking about my previous style? Some of the classes weren't taught by me, but they certainly suited my taste," Moody chuckled briefly, his smile twisting into a grimace. "He imitated it quite well; I taught him for a while, so that might be part of the reason."

The others stared blankly at Moody.

Moody laughed: "Old Barty wanted to train his son to be an Auror. He started training with the candidates from the fourth grade, for a longer period than the average Auror. By the time he graduated, his grades were far ahead of the others."

“I remember he had twelve certificates,” Flitwick said. “Since I started teaching, only a handful of people have received this honor.”

“My grades aren’t just on paper; they’re the collective evaluation of the Aurors. I even taught him reconnaissance and trap setting for a while. Back then, everyone thought Crouch would become an outstanding Auror and take over his father’s job!”

Everyone felt slightly uneasy. The better Barty Crouch Jr. performed during the first period, the more starkly contrasted it became with his later behavior; instead of becoming an Auror, he chose to become a Death Eater.

Flitwick changed the subject: "Felix, the gift you gave me is very nice. I've already seen it, and I must say, some of the African hand gestures are quite good. They can be used as supplementary methods, and I'm already planning to add them to the regular teaching content."

Felix smiled and said, "I asked a few friends to recommend books to me..."

Professor McGonagall frowned: "The teaching methods of Vagad are very different from those of Hogwarts. They determine their research direction very early on, so they can break down and integrate a lot of advanced content into the teaching of lower grades. But Hogwarts is different. Only a small percentage of students actually choose Transfiguration in their sixth year."

“What about the part about human transformation? Maybe we could put it in your transformation club?” Felix suggested.

“That is indeed a good method,” Professor McGonagall said. “My club only admits sixth and seventh graders who have gone through the OWLS exams, so they naturally have a lot of skills, like the ‘prerequisite knowledge’ you mentioned?”

She used a tongue-twisting term, "However, there isn't much knowledge about Vagado's metamorphosis that has been passed down outside. It's only common for African elephants to be metamorphosed, but if the innate conditions aren't good enough, they might just become a malnourished, thin elephant. From this perspective, they're not as good as the Animagus."

Felix agreed, saying, "Animagus is, after all, somewhat random and related to each wizard's psychological state. If you're going to become a snail, you might as well choose an African elephant."

Professor McGonagall looked at him sternly: "Felix, you haven't been to the Animagus in private, have you?"

“How could that be?” Felix curled his lip. “If a wizard is determined to master Transfiguration, he can experience the mysteries of Transfiguration through transformation, but I am not… I think this magic is too low in cost-effectiveness.”

Chapter 430 A Brief Victory

After leaving Flitwick's office, Felix found an opportunity to be alone with Snape.

"So... Barty Crouch Jr. didn't intend to secretly poison us all?" Felix asked, actually wanting to know what kind of potion Barty Crouch Jr. was making in the secret chamber.