A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

He paused suddenly at this point. Don't arbitrarily alter life—does his current transformation into a magical creature count as altering life? He pondered this question. Regardless, he should be more cautious and careful; at least until the transformation is complete, staying at school and not going out was a good option.

Who knows, maybe one of his visits to a branch of the company will lead him to stumble upon a noseless monster?

A sweet taste suddenly filled his mouth. Felix snapped out of his daze and looked down to see Valen reaching out her little hand to put a strawberry preserve into his mouth.

"Chirp! (Let's change the story!)"

Felix, munching on a sweet candied fruit, mumbled, "How about a different story, 'The Legend of the Three Brothers'?" Valen nodded vigorously. Who wanted to hear "Mao Xin"? Wasn't that an insult, used to describe a cold-hearted wizard?

It's a Niffler that has read the entire "Mick the Wizard" series.

"Once upon a time, three brothers were traveling along a secluded, narrow path. As dusk approached, they came to the bank of a rushing river and encountered a man who called himself Death..."

Meanwhile, Hermione returned to the lounge with the magic journal in her hands.

"The letter has been sent?" Harry asked, having lent Hermione his Hedwig so she could write home.

“Yes, I also brought this back,” Hermione said proudly, waving the journal in her hand. Harry’s eyes lit up. “Information on the Time-Turner?” he asked softly. After receiving an affirmative answer, he quickly sat down next to Hermione.

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked casually, carefully opening the scroll.

“He went to the foyer again to check if the rules for the third project were posted,” Harry said. He and Hermione quickly noticed that the journal looked somewhat like a ‘question parchment.’ He stared at the icon on it, eager to click on the one that read ‘Nick Flamel’s Disassembly Plan.’

“Wait, Harry,” Hermione stopped him. “The professor suggested we read the experimental data on the Time-Turner that Nick Flamel had collected.” She clicked on the first icon—a witch with a pained expression. Harry felt uneasy, but he quickly perked up as lines of text began to appear in the journal.

“Elois Mintab? What did she do?” he asked curiously.

"She ended all long-distance time travel with her own experience," Hermione explained succinctly.

After a while, Harry finished reading about Eloise Mintab's experiences. He clicked his tongue, wanting to share his thoughts, when Ron returned excitedly.

"The rules are out!" he shouted, waving the parchment in his hand with a rustling sound, attracting the attention of everyone in the lounge. "I ran into Cedric and the others, and Collins made a copy for me too..."

A crowd of curious onlookers gathered around.

"Read it quickly!" Ximo shouted.

“Oh, uh… okay,” Ron enjoyed being surrounded by people. He cleared his throat and looked at the contents of the parchment. “First, the scores for the first two events—Cedric’s group 126 points, Vargadu 113 points, Beauxbatons 110 points, Durmstrang 100 points, and Ifamoni 73 points.”

“You’re missing one,” Neville reminded him.

"Really?" Ron's smile was almost impossible to hide.

You forgot to mention—

"Oh, is that so?" Ron slapped his forehead dramatically. "I forgot about our results, ladies and gentlemen. Are you ready for this moment?"

“Ron, if you still like the shape of your nose now, you’d better just give me the answer,” Fred threatened maliciously.

“It’s 128 points,” Ron said honestly. “First place.” He added.

The lounge was quiet for a few seconds, then erupted in deafening cheers. Everyone clapped in unison, shouting, "Well done!" Seamus waved his fist and let loose.

Ron's face quickly turned red.

It took him a while to squeeze out of the crowd and reunite with Harry and Hermione, with Ginny following behind him.

“They were so enthusiastic,” Ron said, deliberately downplaying the situation. “I mean, it wasn’t entirely my doing.”

Ginny stared at him intently, as if there was something dirty on his face, making Ron feel extremely uncomfortable. He stammered, "Okay, I admit, Harry and Hermione deserve more credit..."

Hermione snatched the parchment from his hand and read the specific rules. After a long while, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's much better than I expected."

"How so?" Harry asked.

"Before obtaining the trophy, you don't need to worry about attacks from other warrior teams; you only need to deal with the dangers of the maze itself. The person who obtains the trophy will reveal their location every two minutes, allowing warriors from the same team and other teams to confirm their direction. As for who finds the trophy holder first, it's entirely up to luck—"

"What are they planning to do?" Harry couldn't help but press. "How—if I get the trophy, how will they reveal my location?"

“Hmm,” Hermione glanced quickly at the parchment. “It says the trophy will sing loudly for ten seconds, and the eccentric sisters even recorded a battle song for it. Another important point is that we must abide by the internationally accepted rules of dueling, which means dark magic will be prohibited, and there will be strict restrictions on curses. Our Stinging Charm might not be of any use…”

Hermione then listed more than a dozen restrictions, such as prohibiting the use of lethal spells against the warriors themselves, and if one of them lost consciousness at the end of the battle, such as being hit by a stun spell, the victorious warrior must send a signal to summon the patrolling guards.

"...Finally, you exit the maze using the trophy, which is the key, and the competition ends." Hermione looked up.

“So the key to the competition is to get the trophy first, and then—” Ginny said slowly.

“Maintain mobility,” Hermione said.

"Be careful not to get ambushed." That was Ron's answer.

“Defeat your opponents quickly,” Harry answered without hesitation. The other three looked at him at the same time, and he explained, “I think it’s easier to be exposed as we go on, and just hiding won’t work anymore, because you could run into other people at any time.”

Chapter 473 A Memory

“You’re talking about the same thing,” Ginny judged, tossing her bright, fiery hair and counting on her fingers. “Try to get trophies early on—or snatch them from others—and maintain mobility—” She tilted her head at Hermione, “while searching for teammates, be careful not to get ambushed, and avoid the maze’s traps and dangerous creatures—”

Ron nodded seriously, indicating that that was exactly what he thought.

"—And the final stage," Ginny's gaze lingered on Harry, "As time goes on, all the champions will get closer and closer to the trophy, and they may encounter new enemies after only a few steps, so they must deal with their opponents decisively!"

She made a fierce gesture, and Harry thought she looked incredibly cool today.

“Actually, we can also rely on luck to get through,” Ron suggested seriously. “We need to consider the best-case scenario. Have you forgotten? We were the first to enter the maze. If we’re lucky enough, we won’t run into anyone else…”

……

They discussed things in a corner all day, and in the evening, Professor McGonagall made a rare appearance in the common room, calling Harry and Ron out, leaving Hermione and Ginny bewildered. They didn't return until just before lights out, their faces beaming with undisguised joy.

"What did Professor McGonagall say to you?" Hermione looked up from a pile of thick papers, her eyes blankly staring at the gap between Harry and Ron. She spent quite a bit of time going over the rules again.

“I’m with the League of Anti-Dark Arts,” Harry said excitedly, handing over a certificate. Hermione and Ginny leaned over to look, and Ginny let out a short scream. “You’re a full member of the League of Anti-Dark Arts? Harry, is this true?”

“And me,” Ron reminded her.

But Ginny, disregarding everything else, said to Harry, "Do you know what this means?"

"Does that mean, well... I've joined a magical organization?" Harry answered hesitantly.

“No, of course not!” Ginny’s fiery hair began to bounce again. “Listen, it’s a full member, not an honorary member! The difference is significant—”

“Wait, I have a vague recollection…” Ron pondered deeply, “It seems like someone mentioned this to me before, quite a few times.”

“It’s Lockhart.” Hermione was as reliable as ever.

“That’s right! He said he’s an honorary member of the Anti-Dark Magic League, not a full member… What does that mean?” Ron stared at his certificate, seemingly trying to find a perfect explanation.

“Formal members need to undergo assessments or make significant contributions, preferably those that can be promoted.” Ginny knew more about this than Ron. “I guess Lockhart is refusing to demonstrate his abilities because he simply doesn’t have them!”

Harry was overjoyed and revealed more information: "The League of Anti-Dark Arts told me that if I plan to pursue an Auror or a similar career, they can write me letters of recommendation, even if I lack one or two .ls certificates—"

“But you won’t take shortcuts, will you?” Hermione looked at him sternly.

“Yes,” Harry said reluctantly, thinking that using the Anti-Dark League’s promise as a form of insurance wouldn’t be bad.

“The only regret is that Malfoy also received this honor,” Ron said. “Isn’t it ironic? During the Quidditch World Cup riots, he even hinted to us that his father was involved in the riots.”

"Why didn't Professor Haip arrest him?!"

After a while, Ginny yawned gracefully and went back to the girls' dormitory to sleep.

Harry and Ron happily flipped through the certificates, stroking the patterns and seals. No matter how many times they looked at them, they still loved them. After lights out, lying in bed, Ron said to Harry, "I think becoming an Auror wouldn't be bad." Neville, after listening for a while, couldn't help but join in, "Actually, uh, I'd like to become an Auror too," he said, "Of course, Professor would be nice too."

Harry was surprised to find that three people in their dormitory wanted to become Aurors. Soon, Seamus and Dean also joined the discussion, and they didn't fall asleep until the middle of the night.

Half-asleep, Harry imagined himself as an Auror: Ron and Hermione were with him, and Neville, Seamus, and Dean were also around. To his surprise, Luna, Ginny, and Draco Malfoy appeared in the crowd.

Malfoy? Even in his sleep, Harry found it absurd. He muttered to himself in dissatisfaction, and soon the images vanished. He found himself standing in an ancient room, as if he could smell something similar to Grimmauld Place, though certainly not the same place.

He sat on the sofa, talking to someone: "Well done, Yaxley, you've proven your loyalty again..."

Harry rolled over, his Occlumency activated on its own, and he drifted back into a sweet dream.

……

As June arrived, time began to speed up. With the fifth and seventh grade wizarding exams over, the final exams for the other grades officially began. This also meant the third event was approaching—the competition would take place on the last night of the exams.

The atmosphere in the castle became tense and exciting. After the ancient runes exam on the third day, Felix overheard a student say to his companion, "If we can just get through the remaining four days, we can watch the final match, then have a week of fun and welcome a long and wonderful summer vacation!"

He completely agreed with the student's words.

He had a very pleasant time for the first two-thirds of June. The transformation of his body was more than halfway complete—although he couldn't see any use for it yet, there were no obstacles either, which meant everything was going smoothly.

The following morning, June 21, while he was supervising the fourth-year exams, Hermione, though exempt from the final exams, still spent twenty minutes completing the test before pulling out the Runebook to work on the disassembly plan for the Time-Turner developed by Nick Flamel. Based on her recent questions, Felix judged that she should be able to finish it before the end of the school year.

To his surprise, Hermione handed him a paper on the very day the exam ended.

“Professor, this is the plan I designed. I made some modifications based on Nicolas Flamel’s research. Although the process is more complicated, it also allowed me to avoid advanced alchemical techniques.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with it. It’s a very clever transformation, especially suited to your magical characteristics, Miss Granger,” Felix said after a careful examination.

Hermione left the office satisfied.

Just before going to bed, an owl landed outside the window and kept pecking at the window frame with its beak.

After Felix opened the window, the brown owl with the owl post office leg band circled the room once, dropped a palm-sized package, and flew away without looking back.

Upon opening the package, a small box contained a glass bottle about the size of a thumb. Felix held up the transparent bottle and stared at the magic lamp on the ceiling for a moment. Inside the bottle were some silvery substances, slowly swirling, neither solid nor liquid.

That was a memory.

Whose memories could they be? Felix's lips curled slightly; he was very interested in the owner of the memories.

Felix lightly tapped his wand on the cork, and the sealed stopper immediately sprang open. He twirled the black jade wand slightly in his hand, winding silver threads around its tip, then forcefully tossed it into the air, and a rather abrupt scene unfolded:

The person in the image—Felix—was pulverized amidst a burst of green light, while at the same time, a cold voice lingered in the office for a long time.

"Avada kendawa!"

"Chirp!" Valen was startled and froze for a few seconds before jumping into Felix's arms, covering her eyes and clutching his shirt tightly with her little hands.

“It’s alright,” Felix said softly, gazing at the fading light as he held the memory, now transformed into silver threads, in his hand, his fingertips twirling as he fell into deep thought.

Chapter 474 Speculation

Fear? A little… but mostly confusion. Felix couldn't believe he couldn't dodge a killing curse. In that memory, the green light of the curse was released directly, so there was no question of a sneak attack. Moreover, Felix thought about his own reaction in that memory—

Very calm.

He wondered if he could accept death so calmly.

Valen gently tugged at his shirt, and Felix lowered his head, smiling, and said, "It's probably just a prank." He went into the bedroom, put Valen in its cradle, and then returned to his office.

The small box that had contained the "memory of death" lay quietly on the desk. Felix examined it carefully, took out some stuffing paper, and then pulled out a postcard. The front of the postcard featured a picture of Big Ben and a printed proverb: Everyone has the right to choose.