A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

“Yes,” Lupin said in a strange tone.

“I’m going to change my clothes and then go to the study for a while. You can answer their questions,” Felix said.

Lupin nodded: "Leave it to me."

"I'm going to take a nap too. Call me when it's time to eat," Mundungus said, yawning as he walked toward the living room sofa.

"The professor has joined the Order of the Phoenix too?" Harry asked with great interest, watching Felix's figure disappear down the stairs.

“He didn’t,” Lupin said, “but he’s on our side, so he’s one of our allies—”

Chapter 497 Recent Developments

Hermione smiled slightly, while Harry laughed more carefree.

"What's wrong?" Lu Ping asked, puzzled.

"N-nothing," Harry laughed even harder. "Of course the professor is on our side, it's only natural—"

“You’re right,” Lupin said seriously, “but he’s too independent, and sometimes the information doesn’t match up… I almost got beaten to death by him.”

"What's going on?" Harry stopped laughing.

“I took a few days off recently to catch up with some friends,” Lupin said somberly. “You should know that I’m referring to my kind…” Harry and Hermione nodded slightly, knowing he was talking about werewolves.

"Dumbledore originally wanted me to infiltrate the werewolf community, but my face had become somewhat famous, appearing in the newspapers a few times... so I simply operated semi-publicly, trying to persuade the relatively milder werewolf groups to stand on our side, or at least remain neutral, by promising a stable supply of wolfsbane. Then one time, Felix came to see a dark wizard—the relationship between werewolves and dark wizards is complicated, and they sometimes mingle together, probably because they are both on the fringes of society, except the werewolves are forced into it... After that, a conflict broke out, and a few impulsive werewolves rushed forward, only to be struck back by black lightning the next second."

"They were too fast, we couldn't react at all," Lu Ping said with lingering fear. "But the mission is complete, those werewolves moved away overnight."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Children," Lupin concluded, "I'm not saying this to blame Felix—though his methods were certainly somewhat brutal. But you must understand one thing: werewolves are dangerous. Although they are divided into brutal and mild-mannered types, they are all dangerous; the only difference is whether they actively attack humans. So don't fall into the misconception that mild-mannered werewolves are good-natured—"

“I don’t think so, Remus. You have a better personality than most people I know.” A young woman’s voice came from the living room.

The witch had a pale, heart-shaped face, a pair of sparkling black eyes, and a head of short, spiked hair that was a bright, striking violet. Her attire was also Muggle-esque, with a strange shirt and patched jeans, just like the rebellious girls Harry occasionally encountered.

Harry recognized the face; after a few seconds of close inspection, he remembered seeing her in his third year.

“Hello, Tonks,” Lupin introduced calmly to the two. “Tonks is an Auror from the Ministry of Magic, chosen to be stationed at the Order of the Phoenix as a liaison between the two parties.”

Harry and Hermione immediately understood.

Tonks stepped forward, looking them over with great interest. She extended a hand and said, "Hello, I've been wanting to talk to you for a while now." She spoke in a friendly manner.

Harry and Hermione frantically reached out, and Tonks leaned closer and whispered to them, "I've joined the Order of the Phoenix."

“Congratulations—” Harry said blankly, unable to think of anything appropriate to say.

Kreacher remained silent throughout, only bowing respectfully when Harry looked at him. "Please allow Kreacher to make tea for the young master."

“Oh, uh, okay,” Harry said. Then Kreacher vanished before his eyes. He found Kreacher’s attitude rather strange.

“He treated us like we didn’t exist,” Lupin said. “Because of my werewolf identity, he should have treated Tonks much better, but—”

“My mother was expelled from the Black family,” Tonks said with a shrug. “I don’t think he approves of me either.”

"Expelled? That tapestry?" Harry asked.

“Yes.” Tonks made a gesture as if he were launching a spark.

Hermione watched their conversation with confusion.

Harry explained in a low voice, "There's a tapestry on the second-floor wall with the Black family's genealogy on it, but not everyone is on it. Some members who seriously violate family traditions are removed from the tapestry, like Sirius Black did."

Hermione nodded to indicate that she understood.

“Well then—welcome to our place.” Lupin smiled, opened his arms, and hugged Harry.

……

Harry and Hermione sat on the sofa, finding everything around them fascinating.

"Is it just the few of you?" Hermione asked.

“Of course not, Sirius contributed this place as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Everyone is usually very busy and it’s rare for us to get together, so we only come here when we have free time,” Lupin explained. “Molly cleaned up a few rooms, and now it’s barely habitable.”

“I remember Sirius and Kreacher used to clean the house,” Harry said. He had stayed there for a few days, and the conditions were much worse then.

“Well, let me put it another way, it barely meets the needs of the new residents,” Lupin said with a smile. “Sirius is a bachelor, and Kreacher… well, I’d say he’s quite responsible, but he’s getting old, and I strongly suspect his taste has been skewed…”

Lupin looked up at the time. "Sirius will be back soon. He said he'd try to get off work early today. I'll go cook."

"Do you need any help?" Tonks asked.

“No need,” Lupin said, but Tonks followed him out anyway. A moment later, a series of clattering sounds came from the stairs below, followed by Tonks's apologetic voice—“Oh! Sorry—”

No sooner had the two left than Kreacher appeared, bringing over a pot of tea. "This is for young master Harry—" He thoughtfully poured hot tea into the cup, then glanced at Hermione with his big eyes without making any move.

Hermione poured herself a cup of tea, feeling a little embarrassed, and took small sips.

"If Master Harry has any requests, just call Kreacher, and Kreacher will be at your service." The house-elf vanished with a "bang."

Harry explained in a low voice, "Kreacher has served the Black family for generations and is greatly influenced by pure-blood thinking. Sirius Black spent a lot of effort to get him to stop swearing, but I estimate he only succeeded halfway. Kreacher now completely ignores non-pure-blood wizards."

“I understand.” Hermione held her teacup, looking with great interest in the direction Kreacher had disappeared.

“Come on, I’ll show you around the house. I’ve been here a few times before, but it’s strange, I haven’t found a suitable place to practice magic… We’re on the second floor now. The first floor is the foyer and dining room, and the third floor has several bedrooms, but a lot of junk was piled up there during the previous big clean-up, so I don’t know what the situation is now… The study is at the end of the corridor…”

Harry and Hermione glanced into the study and saw the professor sitting in a chair, muttering to himself, "Animagus?" He looked up at Harry and Hermione and asked, "Is Sirius back?"

"Not yet," Harry said honestly.

“Professor,” Hermione asked, “where can we practice magic?”

"There are two places. On the fifth floor, besides two bedrooms that once belonged to Sirius and Regulus, there's a spacious activity room, which was previously locked. Practicing general magic isn't a problem. The basement level is where the kitchen is located, but going down through another hidden entrance and up a long staircase leads to a huge space, which I'd call the second basement level. I guess it might be the Black family's spell experimentation room, which was later abandoned. However, the walls there are made of extremely sturdy stone and protected by various magical spells..."

After Felix finished explaining, he asked, "By the way, do you know about the medal awarding?"

"A medal?" Harry and Hermione said in unison.

Felix smiled. "Ms. Burns herself said that you have a chance to receive the Order of Merlin, Second Class. She wasn't lying."

Harry had completely forgotten about it.

Harry was still feeling dizzy when he got back to the living room. He was about to receive the Order of Merlin?

……

Around eight o'clock, some noises came from downstairs.

Harry pricked up his ears; he heard familiar footsteps—it was Sirius Black!

"Harry!" Sirius Black appeared in the living room doorway, smiling at Harry. "Mundungust has finally done something reliable." He sat down opposite Harry, almost plopping down on Mundungust. "Ouch—"

"Is it lunchtime?" Mundungus asked sleepily.

“Not yet,” Sirius said. He moved to a different spot, and Crookshank jumped onto him, letting Sirius scratch its chin.

Mundungus mumbled something no one could hear, then covered his head with his tattered clothes and went back to sleep.

"What have you been up to lately?" Harry asked.

“There’s a lot to do,” Sirius said wearily, leaning back on the sofa. “We’re in the preparation phase right now, and both sides are being very cautious. In fact… we haven’t really clashed directly—if you don’t count the few Dementor attacks. We think Voldemort is secretly recruiting, building up his forces, or plotting something… he’s not idle. We’re doing the same thing, but we’re the ones laying the groundwork,” he glanced at Harry. “One side is homeless, the other has a large family and business, that’s the situation.”

“The magical world has been at peace for many years, and most people are not very vigilant. There are many loopholes to exploit. You should have heard about Azkaban... Amelia has been working as a wallpaperer all this time.”

“And the FlooNet,” Mundungus muttered in his sleep.

Sirius grinned.

“That’s right. Who would have thought that the seemingly insignificant Floo Network Management Bureau would become so important during wartime? Amelia ordered the Floo Management Team to clean up old and illegal lines and monitor for any anomalies—”

“What about here?” Harry asked, remembering what Mundungus had told them before about the Black family possessing some of the technology to build the FlooNet.

“There’s no need to worry for now,” Sirius said slyly, baring his teeth. “This place has been enchanted with the Faithful Charm, so the Ministry of Magic can’t find it. At most, they might discover some uncontrolled nodes, but they won’t be able to locate them at all.”

……

During dinner, everyone exchanged information while eating.

"Fudge has been sent to various European countries to lobby people and warn them about the Death Eaters' activities there... It's a good use of his talents," Sirius said with a shrug.

Harry was greatly surprised.

"Molly told me she'll be moving in in a couple of days, with a few kids in tow," Lupin also revealed.

Harry and Hermione were thrilled to hear the news.

“I’ll be away for a few days,” Felix said. “I’ll be back before the medal ceremony begins.”

"Where to?" Lupin asked astutely.

"Visiting Mr. Scamander, I miss his little ones that he keeps in the basement."

Chapter 498 The Hatching Bird-Snake

Dorset, on the north shore of the English Channel.

"Chirp? (How much longer do I have to wait?)"

"Be patient, Valen. It'll be quick."

Felix and Valen lay prone on a thick layer of dead leaves, each holding a pair of binoculars, peering into the distance. A dense forest surrounded them, and about sixty or seventy feet away lay a nest woven from vines.

The bird's nest was exquisite, filled with fallen leaves, and six or seven silver eggs, resembling works of art, were huddled together.

This is Newt Scamander's house, or more accurately, part of his basement. Felix and Warren have been here for almost a week, spending most of their time here, experiencing all sorts of amazing adventures without ever leaving the house. Last night they were boating on the swamp, and today they're watching bird-snakes hatch in the woods.

Everything happened in Newt Scamander's magical basement.

This is a magical animal haven that rivals the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. Since Newt's retirement, he's traveled much less. Many countries' ministries of magic have quietly breathed a sigh of relief… but the scale and variety of magical animals haven't decreased; in fact, they've grown even larger. Besides those Newt himself brought back, his son, grandson, as well as Ministry of Magic staff, the Magical Animals Society, sanctuaries… and even enthusiasts from abroad who come seeking his help and advice, all bring various magical animals.

Felix brought a complete set of 'Futureworld' products as payment for his unusual trip. Newt was taken aback, but his wife seemed to enjoy the novelties.

“When Rove visited us, he brought us a chair, which was very comfortable to lie on,” Tina Goldstein told him.

……

"Tap, tap, tap—"

A crisp metallic clanging sound rang out in the forest. "They're about to hatch!" Felix whispered to Valen. The two raised their binoculars and carefully observed the nest. At first, there was only one sound, but it was like a signal. Then all the bird and snake eggs made the same sound.

"Chirp?"