A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

Snape calmly instructed the bishop, "Most mediocre wizards cannot discern subtle differences, and this is a crucial factor in determining whether they can achieve success in potions..."

Felix's White Knight trembled under the Black Bishop's threat, repeatedly crying out to Felix, "Come save me! Come save me!"

Felix coldly issued the order, his White King moving three squares diagonally forward expressionlessly, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two black pawns, one diagonally and one vertically. Snape pondered for a few seconds, then abandoned the vertical pawn.

At this moment, Felix moved the White Knight deep into Black's territory. "Charge!" the piece shouted enthusiastically.

“That’s right,” Felix said in response to Snape. “However, we also have to consider the possibility that some newly enrolled young wizards might have weaker foundational knowledge.”

“It has been considered. The potion recipes for the first year are extremely simple, giving them ample time to adapt,” Snape said slowly. “Unless they are illiterate or have no logical ability whatsoever.”

Felix recalled that it was indeed the case. The entire first-year potion textbook contained very few recipes; most of it consisted of introductions to common potion ingredients, precautions for brewing potions, and summaries of the characteristics of common potions. Even the dozen or so potion recipes that remained were described in great detail. They even explained in detail what the reaction would be after stirring a few times, and there were also notes on common mistakes and corrective measures at the back of the book.

At this moment, Snape's Black Knight approached the center of the chessboard, launching an attack. Felix mobilized the castle to meet the attack. The tension on the chessboard grew increasingly palpable, while the two men off the board chatted leisurely—

“Recently, many students have been discussing using ancient runes to amplify modern magic, and some students have already figured out quite a few things,” Snape said softly.

“I know…” Felix stared at the chessboard, feeling that the central pawn formation was wrong. After a moment of contemplation, he keenly spotted a hidden trap. He glanced at Snape, trying to distract me with words.

He decisively ordered the White Knight to retreat. The Black Pawn immediately followed, and the White Bishop swept away the Black Pawn. The Black Knight counterattacked and devoured the White Bishop. At this moment, the White Queen suddenly appeared and devoured the Black Knight. The Black Queen followed closely and fought back. Finally, Felix used his remaining White Pawn to devour the Black Queen.

After a fierce exchange of moves, Felix let out a long sigh of relief.

"In fact, the fusion of ancient magic runes and modern magic is a dead end."

"A dead end?" Snape looked at him with suspicion, forgetting all about the chess pieces in his hand.

“Hmm,” Felix thought seriously for a moment, “to be more precise, it is like a fork in the road, like a tributary of a river, which eventually converges back into one.”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Snape said slowly, twirling a struggling Black Knight in his hand.

Felix smiled and explained in detail: "Take the 'Water Flow' rune and the Water Creation spell as examples. Some of their magical concepts overlap, so the rune can enhance the spell. However, you'll find that this amplification cannot be suitable for all spells, and I estimate that the specific effect will vary from person to person..."

"It varies from person to person?" Snape pondered the word.

“That’s right. For example, the level of mastery of spells. A deep understanding of spells is the most basic prerequisite. Although there are shortcuts, someone has to be willing to teach you... You also need to choose the right spells. The students are experimenting with them enthusiastically. They should be able to achieve some results before their enthusiasm runs out... There are also issues such as casting time and the timing of activation.”

Felix continued, "This is just the fusion of a single rune and modern magic. What happens next? Incorporating two or three runes? Rune circuits, rune sequences, ancient magic? You'll find that the further you go, the more ancient runes there are, which makes little sense."

"Then why—" Snape took a breath.

“I was thinking the wrong way before,” Felix said calmly. “I was so focused on climbing higher and exploring the mysteries of higher places that I naturally abandoned some obviously unsuitable paths. For example, I knew the follow-up and end point of this line of thought—to transform modern magic into ancient magic and break through all kinds of tangible and intangible limitations. But clearly, that’s not what I wanted.”

Especially after acquiring the Book of Runes, Felix thought to himself.

Snape was silent for a moment. "So, you think it would be more effective to bring it out now?"

“It was Diggory who reminded me, and I just went along with it.” Felix shook his head slightly, stared at the chessboard for a moment, then looked away and said, “Of course, thinking about it carefully, it really is very beneficial for me to promote ancient runes…”

The situation on the chessboard has entered the endgame, and the picture is beginning to become clearer. He had spent a lot of time and effort on the piece battle just now, especially since he didn't intend to cheat using the Mind Hut or Mind Acceleration Magic.

Felix leaned back lazily on the sofa, watching Snape deep in thought, and continued the previous topic: "Although I don't need it, Diggory's unexpected discovery reminded me of something: the ancient runes may have originated from me, but I hope that after me, a variety of styles can flourish, so I encourage them to submit articles to magazines."

Snape looked up abruptly, staring at him in surprise.

“Discussing the advantages and disadvantages of combining ancient runes and modern magic, and some good case studies… I designed a structure for the papers, and if they complete them according to this method, plus a bit of luck, they can get published in a magazine,” Felix explained. “Of course, I’m referring to the members of the Rune Club,” he added. At the same time, he commanded his white-clad soldiers to advance, the white soldiers drawing their scimitars in an exaggeratedly intimidating manner towards the opposing knights. “I also suggested that the students send out two copies, one specifically to the Ancient Rune Association.”

Snape gave a knowing look.

Felix's relationship with the Ancient Rune Association has never been good. Those old scholars who have studied the changes in the shape and meaning of characters all their lives find it hard to accept Felix's theory. Their general view is that the Ancient Rune Association is a language that has only borrowed some of the "forms" of their predecessors.

Now it seems that once these students grow up, it's not impossible, or rather, it's almost inevitable. More than half of this year's Hogwarts graduates have chosen Ancient Runes, and more than a fifth of the entire year have attended advanced Ancient Runes classes. Their understanding of Ancient Runes is exactly what Felix hoped for.

A frightening fact is that Felix has only been with the company for less than three years. In other words, the students who graduated in the last two years did not start learning from him from the beginning. By that standard, only the current fifth graders—those preparing for the .ls exam—are the first group of people to receive Felix's ancient rune education from the third grade.

All those old scholars could do was voice their opinions in the margins of some newspapers, condemning this behavior, or consider nominally separating those 'practical' ancient magical scripts, denying their existence, and dividing them in two, since the proportion of these ancient magical scripts was not large anyway...

This should be the best way. Snape thought to himself, it's like a gecko using its short tail to survive; it may look bad, but at least it preserves itself.

Felix, fiddling with a chess piece, said with a smile, "I've made a new discovery recently. Some of the runes we previously thought were purely translational might actually be simplified and transformed from some kind of practical runes. Hmm, perhaps the transformation is quite significant..."

This was also the insight that the Book of Demonic Script brought him.

Snape was speechless.

With even the last step blocked, what other options does the Ancient Magic Script Association have besides surrendering obediently?

……

Headquarters of the Ancient Magical Script Association.

Compared to large organizations like the Extraordinary Pharmacists Association and the St. Mungo's Magical Healing Association, the Ancient Rune Society's headquarters looked exceptionally shabby, with only about thirty members in total. This was the result of the association repeatedly relaxing its requirements and accumulating resources over decades.

"Did you see that? It's normal for a valuable article to emerge in the field of ancient magic script every few years, but in the last half month, I've received six or seven extremely groundbreaking papers..."

"What do we have to do with what they're researching?" an irritable old man slammed his fist on the table.

“Old Vera, don’t let your personal feelings get in the way. Your granddaughter is working at ‘Future World’ company. No matter what, it shouldn’t affect the impartiality of our association.”

The old man glared angrily at his friend.

"You'd better think this through. These papers have been published in the Daily Prophet and the Wizarding Weekly, and have even attracted the attention of the Ministry of Magic—"

"What does it have to do with them?" the old man asked, his eyes wide.

“Ha! This involves at least three departments: the Experimental Spells Committee, the Wizard Examinations Authority, and the Auror Office,” the man said slowly. “I heard they also plan to compile a booklet about ancient runes under Felix Heap's leadership, so it might also attract the attention of the publishing department…”

"Are the people from the Wizard Examination Authority going too?" the old man asked.

“Grossda was initially very patient, intending to see how things went this year before making a decision… but things changed so quickly that she couldn’t sit still anymore; this is almost a complete subversion of modern spells!”

"Is it really that exaggerated?" the old man asked, looking incredulous.

“At least it’s a supplement. I’ve already conceded a step, and you can’t argue with that!” the man said, puffing out his beard and glaring.

“Alright,” the old man clicked his tongue, remaining silent for a while, “Do you know Professor Marchban? Ask her to take me on a roster!”

Chapter 449 Scrimgeour

Felix emerged from the Potions office with satisfaction, gazing out the window into the distance. It was late March, and the weather had warmed considerably; the Forbidden Forest and the mountains in the distance were no longer just bare, brown patches.

"It would be a shame not to take a stroll in the Forbidden Forest on such a beautiful day," Felix muttered to himself. He cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself, shook off his body, donned a silver cloak, and soared into the sky.

At the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Felix landed, his silver cloak vanishing in specks of light. He couldn't help but think, "Perhaps in the future, one of my biographies will be 'He collaborated with Dumbledore to research the twelve uses of the Patronus Charm'?"

He found the idea amusing and strolled through the forbidden forest. As he got closer, he discovered that, despite the still cold weather, many plants had already sprouted from the icy soil, revealing tender buds.

He also saw a clump of musk orchids.

Felix toured several locations in the Forbidden Forest, including herds of unicorns, hippogriffs, Thestrals, and of course, the lair of the giant spiders. Gork's rule was relatively stable, especially with Felix as an "accomplice"; any individual giant spider displaying its brutal nature would not meet a pleasant end.

As evening fell, Felix cast a spell on the wooden stake he had found, turning it into a dog toy, which he then gave to Hagrid's hound, Tooth.

Back at the castle, he bumped into Professor Flitwick in the foyer. “Oh, Felix? Minerva was looking for you!” he exclaimed.

"Is there a problem?"

“I don’t know… but she asked me to tell you to go to Dumbledore’s office first. The password is: Honey Scum.” Flitwick shared what he knew. “It happened about an hour ago.”

“Alright.” Felix shrugged and went to the small, secluded tower where the principal’s office was located. After giving the command, the giant stone beast opened up, revealing an automatic spiral staircase behind it.

Felix knocked on the door, and the gleaming oak door opened automatically. He entered the office, which contained two people in a round room: Dumbledore sitting behind a desk, and another…

Felix narrowed his eyes, as if he could see an old lion striding toward him, its brown mane and thick eyebrows flying wildly, its yellow eyes sharp and piercing, and even the strands of gray hair in its hair and its not-so-nimble legs did not diminish its imposing presence.

A name surfaced in his mind—Rufus Scrimgeour, the Auror's Chief of Staff and the right-hand man of the Chief of the Enforcement Division. However, at least on the surface, he had never met Scrimgeour.

He turned to Dumbledore, who was standing beside him, and said, "Headmaster Dumbledore? You summoned me here because—"

“Oh,” Dumbledore snapped out of his reverie, crossed his long fingers in front of him, and said with a smile, “According to the Ministry of Magic’s appointment, Felix, you will have three groups of visitors today…” He glanced at the memo on the table, scratching it with his fingernails, and flicked a colorful candy wrapper away with his index finger.

"The first one is Professor Marchban from the Wizarding Examination Board. She arrived an hour and a half ago, accompanied by Mr. Vera, the vice president of the Ancient Runes Society. They are currently taking a walk around the school with Minerva."

“It’s a shame you didn’t meet her,” he said with a smile. “But don’t worry, Machiban told me she plans to stay at Hogwarts for a while, and I agreed.”

Felix and Scrimgeour glared at him simultaneously. Scrimgeour said impatiently, "Dumbledore! You know I'm busy. I just need an answer... Perhaps I should send an assistant, but this is a serious matter, and I must confirm it myself."

“Well,” Dumbledore said with a hint of regret, “the second one is Mr. Rufus Scrimgeour, who is right in front of you. You should have heard of him. He read Mr. Diggory and others’ papers in the newspaper and was greatly shocked by the phenomenon that ancient runes could amplify spells. And coincidentally, he has a prospective Auror under his command…”

He looked at Scrinker, who was silent for two seconds before saying in a low voice, "Abbot Balk."

Felix thought for a moment, "I seem to have some recollection of this name. Balk used to be an assistant at the Duel Club, but as far as I know, his ancient runes weren't very good."

“He only verified the veracity of some information,” Scrimgeour said, his face devoid of any smile; after years of dealing with dark wizards, he seemed to have lost even the ability to laugh. “I later saw the concrete effect on another young man, who reconstructed the points mentioned in the newspaper paper in less than half an hour, which was astonishing…”

"Which one?" Felix interrupted him.

“The ‘Fire’ rune and the Fireball spell,” Scrimgeour said stiffly, “and the ‘Water Flow’ and the Water Creation spell.”

Felix smiled. "I guess the young man's last name is Weasley."

“Percy Weasley, he is currently a senior assistant in the International Exchange and Cooperation Division, reporting to Ludo Bagman and the Minister.” Scrinker revealed a piece of information he was unaware of:

There is currently no one to take over Barty Crouch's position, so Fudge will temporarily fill in, with Bagman also helping out.

Percy Weasley would certainly like this arrangement, Felix thought.

“Let’s be frank, Mr. Hyp,” Scrimgeour said. “I personally admire your magical abilities and am grateful for your efforts in calming the Quidditch World Cup riots… Given the current situation, we must make plans soon… I would like to invite you to join the Ministry of Magic.”

"Sorry, I didn't hear you?"

Felix was genuinely surprised. He had at most assumed that the Auror leader wanted him to help train a group of Aurors or strikers, but he hadn't expected that the leader would even try to poach him.

“The situation is not optimistic. Barty’s matter has put the ministry in a difficult position—” Scrimgeour suddenly stopped speaking, turned to look at Dumbledore, and exchanged a glance with him. “Alright,” he muttered, “since you know quite a bit, I might as well say a few more words, but this is all classified information…”

He limped to the window and gazed at the distant Black Lake, but Felix sensed that he was being observed out of the corner of his eye. He turned slightly to the side, adopting an expression of attentive listening.

“There was a tense atmosphere in the department,” Scrinker said. “I mean the bright ones, or the ones who are good at reading people and gathering information… They were terrified by Barty Crouch’s behavior that morning, during rush hour… people were coming and going…”

Felix imagined it in his mind: a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Magic who was usually impeccably dressed suddenly appeared at the Ministry of Magic in tattered clothes and with disheveled hair to turn himself in. Anyone who saw this would be shocked.

"...He seemed to have suffered terribly. Fudge was panicked and, as always, disappointing in the face of this unexpected situation. It was Ms. Burns who calmed everyone down and led Barty Crouch to a small conference room... The few of us—me, Fudge, Ms. Burns, Sinkness, and a few others...—heard Barty Crouch's testimony... You can imagine how shocked we were!"

Felix didn't answer. He knew almost everything, and even knew that there was another person in the office at the time—Lucius Malfoy. That's right, Lucius himself also held a position in the Ministry of Magic, although it was only a nominal advisor who didn't handle any specific affairs. But with this title, he could interfere in many things, especially since Fudge came to power. Lucius had donated a large sum of money, which made him an easy guest of the Minister of Magic.

"Fortunately, the good news was kept under wraps to avoid causing public panic..." Scrimgeour explained to himself, then continued, "But only Fudge is still pretending that Crouch is still under the spell's influence, accusing him of talking nonsense. Burns, Sinkness, and I all realized the seriousness of the situation..."

“Mr. Scrinker, you’re getting off-topic,” Felix kindly reminded him.

Scrimgeour glared at him, seemingly blaming him for interrupting his train of thought, and tossed his mane-like hair. "I'm getting to it... No one would be foolish enough to ignore the testimony of a high-ranking official, especially after we examined his wife's grave—it was horrifying, empty..."

"Empty?" Felix asked hastily.

“According to Barty Crouch, his wife begged him to exchange her for their son before she died… a life for a life, with Polyjuice Potion, a very clever move! A normal person and a dying person went into Azkaban and then came out, and nobody knew that the person had been switched.” For the first time, Scrimgeour’s face showed a complicated expression. More than a decade ago, he was also one of the supporters of Barty Crouch.

Felix suddenly realized how Crouch Jr. had disappeared from public view and been confirmed "dead."