A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

"Huff, huff!"

Rita Skeeter had the upper hand due to her size. She pinned Lockhart down with one hand and pulled her wand from her pocket with the other, pressing the tip of the wand hard against his forehead as she frantically chanted a spell.

"Forget everything and it's all empty!"

After a moment, Lockhart's expression became blank.

When he came to his senses, Lockhart felt his mind was a bit of a mess. "Hmm, what was I thinking about? Right, that woman, Rita Skeeter. I have to write to her. I have to agree to her demands, or my career and reputation will be ruined."

"Merlin, one problem after another, I shouldn't have come to Hogwarts!"

Lockhart stood up. The office had been tidyed up again, but the portrait on the wall looked sickly and clearly lacked energy.

……

Meanwhile, Felix followed Dumbledore and the others to the school hospital. Dumbledore summoned Fawkes the phoenix again, and the little guy gave his master a reproachful look before reluctantly healing Fawkes with tears.

"At least there were no lasting effects. If word got out that the Minister of Magic was attacked at Hogwarts..." Madam Pomfrey poured out a bottle of black potion and gave it to Fudge, whose cheeks turned rosy.

“Knowing the minister as I do, he won’t tell anyone,” Kingsley said. “However, that woman named Rita Skeeter, she’s a problem!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to her,” Felix said calmly, studying Fudge’s face and quietly plucking a tuft of his hair.

It wasn't that he wanted to do anything; it was just that his position was too ideal and the opportunity too rare.

Why not take advantage of it? You never know when you might need it later.

Chapter 88 Concept

Kingsley looked at Felix and hesitated for a moment before saying, “I know your name, Felix Heap, but she’s not someone to be trifled with… That woman is incredibly audacious; she might not even listen to Fudge himself.”

Felix did not speak.

Dumbledore watched all this, blinked his deep blue eyes, and considering Rita Skeeter's previous attitude, he had some guesses.

The old man bent down and carefully examined Fudge's condition. He said, "The basilisk is indeed a terrifying creature. Even disregarding its eyes, its venom is extremely rare."

“That’s true.” Kingsley nodded.

"But even the most venomous poison can't compare to the desires in a person's heart, and Voldemort was a prime example of that," Dumbledore said calmly. "As his power grew, so did his desires. He crossed one line after another until he had no more scruples."

"Voldemort once glorified his actions, saying, 'Magic is might.' Felix, what do you think?"

Felix said lightly, "Magic can carry many things: ambition, dreams, power, authority, awe... but these are just scenery along the way. You can stop briefly, but eventually you still have to move forward."

“Personally, I believe that magic is magic, and there is no need or necessity to add any other accessories.” He looked up and met Dumbledore’s calm gaze.

Kingsley listened to the conversation between the two men, completely bewildered. How did they get from the Basilisk to the Mystic? Wasn't he long dead?

"Knock knock knock!"

At the open door of the ward, Lucius Malfoy knocked on the door with his cane. He looked up slightly, hiding half his face in shadow. "Dumbledore, I need to speak with you alone."

“Ah, welcome, Lucius, welcome.” Dumbledore stood up with pleasure and walked out with him.

Felix then took his leave.

As Felix walked through the corridor connecting to the auditorium, he happened to see Rita Skeeter, who looked very flustered and had her makeup ruined.

What's going on here?

“Rita.” Felix stepped out of the shadows, startling her.

“Felix Heap! You, I…” Rita Skeeter stammered.

Something's strange...

Felix looked into her eyes, his light blue eyes gleaming slightly.

Panic, ferocity, and relief...

What did she do?

He hesitated whether to continue investigating—there was a risk of being discovered—but Rita Skeeter lowered her head to avoid his gaze. “Excuse me, Mr. Hyp, I have something to do, I need to finish my manuscript…” she said hurriedly as she left.

“Rita,” Felix called out to her, “I hope we don’t cause too much of a commotion about Minister Fudge’s injury.”

With her back to him, Rita Skeeter said slyly, "Mr. Hyp, oh Felix, are you asking me to keep the truth hidden?"

"As long as you don't exaggerate or distort the facts, you know what my attitude is."

After she left, Felix sighed. He should settle down and focus his energy on studying runes.

However, the dueling course still needs to be resolved.

With the new semester starting, he needs to set the time and content for the dueling courses.

After having lunch in the Great Hall, Felix went down to the castle's underground chamber to finalize the lesson plan with Professor Snape.

Snape, dressed in black robes and expressionless, welcomed him inside.

“Please sit down, Felix.”

Snape lifted the hem of his wizard's robe and sat opposite him. He waved his wand, sending several pieces of parchment flying onto the table in front of him.

“These are some of my—” Snape stared into Felix’s eyes, “insights.”

Felix picked up the parchment, examined it carefully, and jokingly remarked, "Professor, don't you even have a cup of tea here?"

Snape smirked. "You've never drunk anything I've personally handed you."

Felix pursed his lips and remained silent.

Snape had used Truth Potion to scare him when he was in school, and this Christmas he even gave him a small bottle of high-purity Truth Potion. He simply didn't have the courage to try any of the drinks Snape gave him.

He carefully read the contents of the parchment.

"Professor, do you mean we learn one spell per lesson?"

Felix looked at Snape with some confusion.

“Felix, most spells related to duels are quite dangerous. If you don’t slow down, they can give you all sorts of unexpected surprises.” Snape deliberately emphasized the word ‘surprise’.

Felix thought for a moment, "One class every two weeks, which means learning two spells a month."

Snape said indifferently, "You can learn a dozen spells in a school year. If you combine them properly, you can protect yourself perfectly well." He then revealed his usual sarcastic tone, saying, "Some students don't even know how to cast a standard Ironclad Charm until they graduate."

This is indeed the reality at Hogwarts; peace has lasted too long, and the young wizards learn spells merely to pass exams.

Once the exams were over, some obscure spells were shelved.

In the normal course of instruction, fourth-year wizards should have mastered the Ironclad Charm, but unfortunately, this spell is taught under Defense Against the Dark Arts, which is a separate subject at Hogwarts…

It's hard to say.

Many young wizards' spellcasting skills in their fifth year will be the peak of their lives, because according to the requirements of the OWLs exams, compulsory courses must be taken, including courses that emphasize practical application such as Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Transfiguration.

After fifth grade, the young wizards begin to choose advanced classes based on their grades and career plans, and some underachieving students may only take one or two classes.

If he happens to choose a course that is mostly theoretical, his spellcasting skills will plummet like a diver.

I reckon that after graduation, I'll have forgotten everything except for the most commonly used spells.

Felix flicked the ring on his left hand and took out a stack of parchment. "Professor, this is my teaching plan for the first spell. You can offer some suggestions."

Snape took the parchment and casually flipped through two pages, but then his expression turned serious.

"This is……"

Snape buried himself in the contents of the parchment, engrossed in the magical skill tree Felix had created. Every now and then, he would take out his wand and wave it in mid-air.

"Felix, is this how you understand spells?"

Felix said gently, "This is merely my personal understanding from the process of learning spells, and there may be omissions."

Snape ran his fingers across the parchment, rapidly reconstructing the magic in his mind.

After a while, he waved his wand, emitting a dazzling red light that sent a chair three meters away flying. The poor chair completely disintegrated in mid-air.

"Professor Snape, what is this?" Felix asked him. The spell he just cast wasn't too strong, it was too weak!

None of them could match the strength of the disarming spell he used to defeat Lockhart.

Snape pondered this carefully in his mind, then slowly opened his eyes. "I just blocked my knowledge of the Disarming Charm and reconstructed this magic according to your design."

Felix suddenly realized.

Snape was not only a potions master, but also had a deep understanding of spells.

He used memory magic to shield his understanding of the Disarming Charm, and in a very short time, he relearned the Disarming Charm according to Felix's plan.

This wasn't difficult for Snape; he had all the magical knowledge he had accumulated, and all the relevant theories and techniques were readily available. After a little practice, he was able to recast the spell.

If it were a different junior wizard, they wouldn't be able to do something similar.

Snape's actions further validated the feasibility of Felix's theory, and its success rate remains an astonishing 100%.

However, Felix quickly went off-topic, and began asking Snape about the application techniques of memory magic...

Chapter 89 Classroom Q&A

Felix stayed in Snape's office until the first class of the afternoon ended before rushing off to teach his seventh-year wizard.

He stood on the podium, looking down at the young wizards from the four colleges below.

There were less than twenty in total. "Tsk tsk! That's far too few."

Early in the semester, Felix had spoken with Professor McGonagall about "appropriately" relaxing the students' grades, allowing some junior wizards with A grades to enter his advanced class.

He did this with the idea that "the more the merrier," hoping that his strong personal charm might persuade another wizard to join the research family of ancient runes.

But before his arrival, the course had been lukewarm at best, with very little response. Apart from wizards who aspired to study ancient texts or wanted to work in Gringotts or the Ministry of Magic's retirement division, others showed little interest in it.

So in his seventh-grade class, there were either top students who would not let the wrong one go and would try to select as many students as possible, or poor students who were lucky enough to get an A (passing grade) in the ancient magic script.

For example, Marcus Flint is a typical example of a poor student. After entering seventh grade, he only chose two courses—Protecting Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes.

Felix opened a way for him to enter the ancient runes; otherwise, he would have been able to take a course.

As far as Felix knew, the seventh-year class on the Protection of Magical Creatures would introduce a significant amount of knowledge about raising and breeding rare magical creatures, requiring extensive research and memorization. Given Marcus Flint's troll-like intellect, Felix had no idea how he would possibly pass.

On the platform, Felix waved his wand, scattering a dozen or so scrolls in all directions, which landed in front of the corresponding young wizards.

He commented, "Overall, your grades are steadily improving. However, I must remind you that according to the previous NEWTs assessment standards, you must translate a complete ancient document."