A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

“If this is true, then what reason do we have not to believe anything else? Although Fudge still rejects the possibility, both Sinkness and Madam Burns are pretty much convinced…” He looked at the deep blue sky, his thick eyebrows furrowing deeply: “A Death Eater has joined forces with his master, secretly plotting to regain his strength. But since he sent the only Death Eater he trusts to Hogwarts, it means there’s something he desperately needs here…”

"Dumbledore, has the Philosopher's Stone really been destroyed?" Scrimgeour suddenly asked.

From this statement, Felix deduced that Scrimgeour was not one of Dumbledore's men. Dumbledore said softly, "Of course, this is the result of a discussion between me and Nick Flamel and his wife."

Felix knew about this and wasn't particularly surprised, but when Scrimgeour looked at him with a probing gaze, he couldn't understand it. "So, you don't have any either?"

What? Felix blinked, suddenly realizing that this was Scrimgeour's real purpose: the legacy of Nick Flamel—some in the Ministry of Magic might believe that the most likely reason Hogwarts repeatedly attracted Voldemort's attention was because it contained something that could restore his powers.

For example, a magic stone that was not destroyed as promised, or a magic stone that was inherited by someone else.

The former is related to Dumbledore, while the latter naturally involves Felix.

“I did not inherit the Philosopher’s Stone from Nicolas Flamel.” Felix bowed slightly, his attitude turning cold.

But Scrimgeour had achieved his primary objective, or rather, he believed he had. He continued along the planned route: “In conclusion, we realize that we must strengthen the Ministry of Magic. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has decided to expand its recruitment, especially the Auror Office; we urgently need more talent.”

Felix declined Scrinker's offer, even though he hinted that Felix would take his place within a few years.

However, he didn't refuse the invitation to train Aurors and batters, which was also the outcome he wanted. "How about we schedule it during the Easter holidays?" Scrimgeour asked.

“No problem,” Felix said. “I need to do some preparation, including the identities of the people I’m training, their academic performance, and the magic they are good at.”

“You should know these are all classified, right?” Scrinker said sternly immediately.

“I know, but I’ll find out sooner or later…” Felix said cheerfully. “I’m just trying to avoid wasting each other’s time.”

Scrimgeour stared at him for a while with his intimidating yellow eyes, and just when Felix thought he was about to fall asleep, he said in a deep voice, "I will send a trusted person to make a copy of the documents. You will read them on the spot and destroy them immediately—excluding classified files!"

“Then it’s settled.” Felix extended his hand, and Scrimgeour limped over, his rough hand firmly shaking Felix’s.

After the tough-minded Auror leader left the office, Felix sat down on the sofa without ceremony. "He looks ambitious," he said.

“Hmm,” Dumbledore said slowly, fiddling with the silver ornaments on the table with his long fingers, “that’s obvious, and in some ways not a bad thing. He sensed the coming of war and saw it as an opportunity… but there are still many people standing in his way, Amelia Bornes, Pierce Sinkness… if Barty hadn’t been imprisoned in Azkaban, he would have been one too. The war will make people miss that iron-fisted commander.”

"Are you saying he's all ambition and no talent?" Felix asked sharply. Scrimgeour seemed quite imposing, a man of action.

“I’m afraid he’s underestimated the horrors of war,” Dumbledore murmured. “Yes, he experienced the war more than a decade ago, fighting the Death Eaters to the death, but whether it was luck or misfortune, he never faced Voldemort head-on… They still haven’t realized the crux of the matter: Voldemort came first, then the Death Eaters. Once Voldemort is gone, the Death Eaters will be like orphaned animals with nowhere to hide.”

“Oh.” Felix lowered his head in thought. After a while, he looked up and asked a question he had been wanting to ask: “Albus, did you really defeat Voldemort?”

Chapter 450 Voldemort's Strength

Dumbledore's blue eyes blinked behind his glasses.

“A very interesting question. Felix, very few people ask me this so bluntly.”

“What I mean is… Voldemort did nothing to Hogwarts during the war, and he seemed… well… quite wary of someone in the school… while in the eyes of the world, there is clearly no record of these two ever fighting.” Felix said carefully, choosing his words.

"Perhaps that's the truth," Dumbledore said with a smile.

“It could also be only part of the truth,” Felix said immediately. “The truth in some people’s eyes—they only see the result, or a few points in the process, but they can’t see the whole picture.”

Dumbledore frowned slightly and opened his mouth slightly, as if choosing the right words.

Felix knew he had to do something, say something… otherwise, once the old man made his decision, he would have to wait and see. So he cleared his throat and said, “Albus, we all know that Voldemort and Crouch Jr. are hiding outside. The Ministry of Magic has sent out a large number of Aurors and Strikers, but to no avail… I’m afraid we have to consider the possibility that he has been successfully resurrected, and I need to know his strength.”

After a moment of silence, Dumbledore seemed to be convinced—

“I can assure you, Felix, that although I never saw him die in front of me, I did break and destroy his body more than once, inflicting wounds that no ordinary person could heal.”

Dumbledore calmly revealed a long-buried secret.

"Can't be cured by ordinary people?" Felix asked astutely.

“I remember telling you… I interviewed him?” Dumbledore said softly, leaning back and staring at the ceiling.

“...That’s how it is.” Felix said slowly, suppressing his excitement.

This is what he looked like back then—

Dumbledore suddenly waved his wand, and a somewhat ethereal figure gradually became clear. His face seemed to have been burned, his features blurred and almost devoid of any curves, his skin twisted strangely like solidified white wax. The whites of his eyes seemed permanently bloodshot, and his black pupils gleamed with a cold light.

Felix carefully examined the image of Voldemort from Dumbledore's memory. He wasn't unfamiliar with the image—he had seen it once before when he found the locket, but clearly, Voldemort looked even less human than before.

'This seems to suggest that Voldemort completed the creation of the Horcrux locket long before the interview,' Felix thought. Recalling Dumbledore's earlier words, he tentatively asked, 'Is it the effect of dark magic? Or the influence of the Horcrux?'

Dumbledore gave him an approving look and waved his hand to dispel the phantom in the air.

"Both possibilities exist, but I personally lean towards the former... Of course, we cannot rule out the impact on the body caused by the loss of the soul due to multiple Horcruxes. After all, no one in history has ever done this before."

"So Voldemort's body is different from a normal person's? He combined Salazar Slytherin's bloodline magic with his own dark magic, which makes what ordinary people consider fatal wounds have little effect on him?" Felix analyzed, combining Dumbledore's words.

He couldn't help but frown. How could they possibly fight like this?

He suddenly realized a possibility. Felix looked sharply at Dumbledore, unable to hide his surprise, and exclaimed, "A magical creature? Has Voldemort reached Lady Ravenclaw's level?"

At the same time, he recalled Dumbledore's reaction when he first heard the word 'magical creature'—

“Felix, I can’t offer you much useful insight. When I was young, I did, for a considerable period of time, believe myself to be omnipotent… Magical creatures? That’s too modest, and I was far too arrogant back then.”

On the same occasion, Dumbledore demonstrated to him the "trick" of flicking spells away with his finger...

Dumbledore straightened up from his chair, placed his hands on the desk, and slowly but firmly shook his head: “I don’t think that’s the reason. At least I’ve never had that ability. Even… none of the other founders of the school have any similar records. Salazar Slytherin, on the other hand, was suspected of having a kind of magic that could draw life force to heal himself.”

“The diary?” Felix asked warily. Two years ago, the Horcrux diary bewitched Ginny Weasley and absorbed some of her life force, fortunately not much, and it was discovered in time, cured by Madam Pomfrey’s superb medical skills.

“That’s quite possible.” Dumbledore nodded slightly. “Magic that drains one’s life force is rare, but it does exist. However, I have never heard of transferring life force from one person (Ginny) to another soul.”

“Is it the influence of Horcruxes?” Felix guessed another possibility. “Perhaps Horcruxes have the characteristic of absorbing life force.” But he realized something was wrong. He had read the chapter on Horcruxes at Black’s old house—it was an antique book called “The Secrets of Advanced Black Magic”—so his knowledge of Horcruxes was not lacking.

Dumbledore also denied this speculation.

“A Horcrux is a piece of soul that is separated and left in some corner of the world, so that the creator cannot be destroyed. In short, it is immortality,” Dumbledore said. “For this purpose, the separated soul should be in a dormant state, or at least extremely inactive—unless a deadly threat appears around the Horcrux, in which case it will fight back—only then is it safe.”

Felix nodded slightly, agreeing with Dumbledore. No normal person would want the soul fragments in their Horcrux to be active and possess independent consciousness; what if they caused trouble and were discovered and destroyed?

Besides, only a small piece of the soul is needed to cut it apart, and that little bit of soul is unlikely to do much.

"...But a diary should be special?" he pondered.

“That’s right.” Dumbledore nodded. “When Ginny Weasley first wrote in the diary, she received a response and fell into Voldemort’s carefully woven trap… I’m almost certain that Voldemort didn’t see it as a Horcrux to save his life, but as a key to the Chamber of Secrets. So he gave his diary many privileges, such as his memories up to the age of 16, sufficient activity… and naturally, the knowledge he inherited from the Lytherin ancestors of the Chamber of Secrets.”

“But it’s all just speculation,” Felix said, frowning, a sense of irritation rising within him. Dumbledore, however, sounded so certain. How could he be so sure?

He roughly pieced together the information. Dumbledore had secretly fought Voldemort several times during the war, inflicting serious injuries on him more than once, but Voldemort would quickly recover. Dumbledore was probably investigating the reason behind this. He believed it was due to the effects of dark magic and blood magic, based on records that Salazar Slytherin possessed the magic to heal by absorbing life force, and that Ginny had had her life force absorbed... But there was another possibility, Felix couldn't help but wonder, why not?

So he asked, "Why couldn't it be that he resurrected someone using a Horcrux?"

Dumbledore looked at him and said calmly, "Why do you think that?"

“Just speculation,” Felix shrugged. “Maybe he did use dark magic to modify his body, but there must be a limit, right? Maybe he just delayed his death, found a loyal servant after escaping, and performed a resurrection ritual for him… Hmm, maybe he’ll use a Confusion Charm or a Forgetfulness Charm to erase any lingering effects afterward? Or maybe he’ll just discard it altogether…”

Dumbledore lowered his head and remained silent.

“What you’re saying is true, Felix,” he said. “But regardless, we have very limited information.” He looked thoughtfully at the table leg and said in a barely audible voice, “Perhaps I could be more proactive.”

"What?" Felix didn't hear him clearly.

“Thank you for reminding me, Felix,” Dumbledore said with a smile. “I almost overlooked that. My intuition tells me this information is particularly useful.”

Felix knew this meant the conversation was over, and perhaps he should go find Professor Marchban, or maybe tease Clemi's grandfather... But he was a little reluctant; he hadn't yet found out Voldemort's strength.

He stood up from the sofa and said, "One last question, Albus, can I take that you are far more powerful than Voldemort?"

Another silence fell—

“I am old,” Dumbledore said seriously. “Even twenty years ago, I could only barely gain the upper hand. If he were to be resurrected, the outcome would be hard to predict.”

"Barely gaining the upper hand?" Felix asked, puzzled. Dumbledore had previously said that he had "destroyed and destroyed Voldemort's body" more than once, and this "more than once" was something worth pondering.

“I used a special method,” Dumbledore said, blinking his bright blue eyes with amusement, “to make Voldemort believe that I had been hiding my strength in order to set a trap… but the truth is, the difference in our strength at the time was not that great.”

“A special method…” Felix repeated slowly.

"A little trick that allows me to temporarily regain my peak condition," Dumbledore replied with a smile, as if coaxing a child.

……

When Felix emerged from the headmaster's office, it was completely dark. His mind was a jumbled mess; he desperately needed to process the information he'd gathered that day. He hurried back to his office and shut himself inside. As for Professor Marchban, he'd deal with her tomorrow; after all, Dumbledore had mentioned she'd be staying for a while.

On the other side, Dumbledore was still sitting in the chair in the circular office. After a while, he opened the left drawer, where there was a locket and a wand.

The phoenix Fawkes, perched on the perch, landed on Dumbledore's shoulder and chirped softly.

Chapter 451 Eavesdropping

The next day, Felix got up with a yawn.

He didn't sleep well last night, tossing and turning in bed for half the night, when he suddenly realized a problem: he had spread his business too far, and many responsibilities that were not his responsibility seemed to be rushing towards him on their own initiative, and he was helpless about it, and even not too resistant to it.

When did it all begin? Felix pondered this question as he brushed his teeth in front of the mirror. People and events flashed through his mind; in just over two years, he had experienced quite a lot.

Felix knew very well that Dumbledore had never rejected his puzzle-solving efforts, and had even proactively shared a lot of secret information with him, things that Dumbledore might never have revealed to anyone before.

At least, Felix had tested Severus, and he knew nothing about the Horcruxes' secret. Those who did know—Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Sirius—were all under gag orders, and even Remus didn't know the truth.

Why would a wise man who keeps secrets and has weathered many storms tell him this so easily? Felix's only thought might be that Dumbledore wanted to use him to fight Voldemort.

There's nothing wrong with that.

Felix didn't object to this. Before joining the company, he believed he was powerful enough, and the only real pressure he faced came from Dumbledore and the ghostly remnant of Voldemort. Even if Voldemort were to resurrect, Hogwarts would be safe enough, given Dumbledore's presence. He wouldn't mind lending a hand while under Dumbledore's protection, and if he happened to discover that Voldemort's strength wasn't all that impressive, he naturally wouldn't mind dealing with that problem personally.

However, in the past two years, his strength and mentality have undergone tremendous changes. Before joining the company, he relied more on his talent and used his superior spell levels to intimidate others, but in essence, his strength was not much different from those elite Aurors. At most, he had a few more ancient spells and sixth-level spells, as well as some trump cards... but they also had decades more combat experience than him. Felix figured that if he were to be hit by a few stun spells by chance, he would be knocked unconscious just as easily.

Felix estimated that he might be able to defeat Moody in his prime one-on-one (as he learned during treatment), but if Moody brought a well-trained Auror squad, the outcome was uncertain—he could certainly use his immature thinking to accelerate the execution of instant-kill tactics, which he had done successfully on American soil, but once his trump card failed, he would be in big trouble.

But now the situation is completely different. He has perfected his instant-kill tactics, moving freely and nimbly; his Mind Hut magic has begun to show combat power, and he is not afraid of group attacks; his memory magic has reached its peak, and he is about to create all sorts of amazing effects... The Guardian's Flying Cloak is not very useful, at most saving him a flying broom; the Humanoid Ironclad Spell is not afraid of stray arrows, but it cannot resist powerful spells... In addition, he also has unfathomable mastery of magic runes.

To be honest, Felix rarely experienced psychological pressure. Even when he learned that there was a new landscape above him—let's call it a "magical creature" or a "legend"—he remained remarkably calm.

There's always a way to escape. While rare, records from the last war show that some managed to escape Voldemort's pursuit. Among them were the Longbottoms, and Felix had been invited to visit the Longbottoms during his third-year summer vacation, where he learned in detail from the two Aurors—not just about their memories, but also their analytical thought processes.

He came to the conclusion that he was far more skillful at escaping than the Longbottoms.

Considering the worst-case scenario—that Dumbledore was no match for the resurrected Voldemort, and that he himself was not quite up to the task—he withdrew from the situation, waiting for an opportunity and for himself to cross that threshold.

Felix has the patience and the confidence to go further than anyone else on the path of magic, but he needs time.

He had always thought things through perfectly: calm, rational, and self-disciplined... meeting his usual standards for himself. But when Felix stood on the podium of the ancient rune classroom, right on time, and saw a series of familiar faces, he wasn't so sure anymore.

'If one day someone needs to take over Dumbledore's burden and face what he once faced, what should I do?' Felix pondered this question, his gaze sweeping across the classroom, lingering briefly on the back of the classroom, a slight smile playing on his lips, and said:

"There are two more people in our class today. One is Professor Gershilda Marchban from the Wizarding Examination Authority—"