A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

“No problem.” Belby said a few words to his younger brother and quickly came over.

Snape had already left, so the two used Apparition to go directly to the entrance of the Three Broomsticks tavern.

“It was a fantastic experience, Felix. I didn’t even feel any discomfort,” Belby exclaimed. “I usually don’t use it when I’m traveling alone, unless absolutely necessary…”

Felix and Belby entered the tavern. It was the weekend, and there were small groups of young Hogwarts wizards sitting inside, mostly couples. They were also surprised to see Professor Hyp and a stranger walk in.

"Is that Professor Hyp's friend?" Kremi Vera thought to herself, while the girl next to her stared at the two of them curiously.

Felix chose a corner seat, and Mrs. Rosmerta came over to write down their order. The food was delivered in less than a minute.

"A glass of low-alcohol mead."

"A glass of pear and lemon liqueur."

She turned and left.

Felix tapped the table, and the surrounding noise immediately subsided.

"Felix, what's this?"

“It’s best if the young wizards don’t know about our conversation.” Felix pointed to a spot not far away where several young wizards were curiously peering in, and he even saw a few familiar faces.

Next, Felix recounted his experience as the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts officer.

“Oh, I see. I hadn’t been paying much attention to this,” Belby said.

“There’s something I must remind you of, about the rumors that this course is cursed outside…” Felix omitted Voldemort’s presence, using a powerful wizard to represent the source of the curse.

“Hmm…” Belby hesitated. “According to you, I only need to teach for about half a year, so the curse won’t affect me?”

"Judging from the experience of the past few decades, this is indeed the case. The vast majority of wizards who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts are still alive and well, except for a few—"

“But they all have their reasons. Damocles, you are an excellent wizard, and the time you spend teaching is shorter, so the danger is almost negligible.”

Felix said sincerely, "Hogwarts has the world's largest collection of books, which I think will be of great use to you at this stage."

Belby's eyes lit up immediately. "Indeed... I've spent over a decade researching wolfsbane medicine, and what has bothered me most is the lack of similar research data."

Potions masters are a group of relatively reclusive wizards who have less time for socializing. This is related to the nature of potions—it takes one or two months to brew a potion, and if you want to make improvements, you have to conduct at least hundreds of experiments.

His mind started to wander, and he might spend half a year recharging himself—the word 'recharging' was something he learned from the Muggle world.

Moreover, there is a Potions Master at Hogwarts that you can talk to;

Add to that the allure of the Forbidden Forest and Mrs. Sprout's Greenhouse...

“If I agree to teach, what suggestions do you have, Felix?” Belby asked, already tempted.

Felix thought for a moment and said, "I suggest you prepare some magical defensive items—I can provide them to you. No, no, there's no need to be nervous. I just tend to deal with problems proactively." He looked at Belby's expression and added.

"Secondly, when you communicate with Dumbledore, you can ask him more about the course, especially those wizards who have served as Defense Against the Dark Arts professors—what are they doing now? You can even visit some of them."

"Finally, prepare your lessons in advance; the level of the young wizards at Hogwarts may surprise you."

Belby smiled. "I also graduated from Hogwarts, Felix. I know my level back then."

……

That same day, Felix told Dumbledore about it.

"So, we'll soon have an excellent professor?" Dumbledore's face lit up with surprise. "To be honest, I was just about to send out the job advertisement."

“Headmaster Dumbledore, Belby is only somewhat interested, and you still need to communicate with him in detail. I won’t get involved in this. But—he is one of the few friends I can talk to, and I hope you can guarantee his safety.”

Dumbledore looked at Felix with his deep blue eyes and smiled gently, saying, "Of course."

For the next few days, Felix paid little attention to the matter. He went about his studies, attending classes, answering questions, and researching magic as usual.

This rhythmic lifestyle blurred his sense of time.

A week passed quickly.

On a sunny afternoon, the snow on the castle began to melt, and water trickled down the eaves.

The Weasley twins cornered him after class.

The two men chuckled and took out two coins. Felix took them, and he couldn't help but suspect that they had ruined the "Fever Nat".

But to his surprise, the coin was intact and even had some extra parts.

Felix stroked the copper nut in his hand, looking at the twins, who returned his sly gaze.

"Is this a test for me?"

He sensed the magic contained within, and after a dozen seconds, he pinched one of the coins and infused it with magic. The other copper nut quickly became scalding hot and its surface became uneven.

Felix examined the coin closely. Several initials appeared on the shockingly hot surface. He tried to decipher them and found that the most fitting sentence was—

'Filch is coming, get out of here!'

Felix: "...Is this your nighttime parade equipment?"

“Well, Professor Hyp,” Fred said, “don’t you think this is a good emergency item—it could be useful when Aurors raid the magical black market, for example, to patch up gaps in the defenses or something.”

"Or it could be a secret code between couples, with the words just randomly filled in," George said.

Ha ha.

Felix would never believe that they originally developed this thing to facilitate nighttime travel.

And what's this about a magic black market... I think you're subtly criticizing me.

However—their thinking is very broad, and the two scenarios they mentioned do indeed have some feasibility.

"So, what is the purpose of your visit to me?" he asked.

“Professor Haip, we have encountered some difficulties—for example, the words on the coins are fixed, and we have no way to change them.”

"The coin itself is too small to write anything on."

"Yes, we hope to develop a gadget for two-way communication, like a two-way mirror, of course—"

"—Lower cost!"

"—Even simpler to make!"

They looked at Professor Hyp with eager anticipation, hoping he could answer their questions.

In the past few years, the twins have researched and developed some of the prank props themselves, but many of their ideas could not be implemented and had to be shelved.

Fortunately, Professor Hyp promised that they could ask him for help at any time.

After the twins finished speaking, Felix fell into deep thought, standing motionless in place.

A few minutes later—

The two exchanged a glance, and Fred said somewhat nervously, "You just need to give us a little hint..."

Chapter 116 The Dwarfs

Felix snapped out of his daze.

"Oh, I've been thinking a bit too deeply." He had just connected the twins' ideas to cell phones in the future, so he spent some of his mind in his thought chamber to deduce the possibilities.

He could easily solve this "text message" function; he hadn't been reading all those alchemy books in the library for nothing.

However, if he wants to implement more complex functions, it will not be easy to do so.

After all, wizards from hundreds or thousands of years ago didn't have such wild imaginations; there were too many things they needed to research and implement independently.

But...why bother? Why do you have to do everything yourself?

He stared at the twins. If in the past he had only regarded them as promising young wizards, now he was thinking about how to nurture them so as not to waste their talents.

Maybe I'll see magic phones become all the rage someday?

Felix has always been a very goal-oriented person, but he doesn't refuse to make the wizarding world a better place.

Especially when it doesn't require much effort.

He told the twins, "Of course I could tell you the answer directly, or even fulfill your ideas, but I would prefer to cultivate your abilities."

Felix took out a piece of parchment, scribbled down a book title, and marked the page numbers.

"This is a reference book list, containing everything you want—two of them are stored in the restricted book section, and I'll give you a separate approval slip."

“Thank you so much, Professor Hyp,” the twins said dramatically, their excitement suggesting they were about to rush up and hug him.

Felix quickly waved his hand—

"Also, regarding materials, you can consider the material used for the wand shaft."

"Professor, do you have any recommendations?"

“Personally, I like ebony, like black jade.” Felix showed them his wand. “However, reason tells me that chestnut is a better choice. It is very mild and has no particular inclination.”

The twins left happily.

After finishing his second afternoon class, Felix headed straight for the Great Hall. On the way, he saw a group of young wizards gathered together, with Professor McGonagall standing in the middle of the group. Her lips were tightly pursed, and her expression was quite serious.

Which little wizard has gotten into trouble again?

As Felix approached, he noticed three other creatures in front of Professor McGonagall, who were so short that they were obscured by the young wizards.

Felix was quite surprised to find that they were dwarfs.

They have dark green skin, are usually no more than one meter tall, and have rough, fierce faces. Even when expressionless, they exude a sinister aura.

Seeing the dwarves reminded Felix of one person—Farris Spavian, the former Minister of Magic who set two records: one was that he ascended to the position of Minister of Magic at the age of 109, and the other was that he served for 38 years.

Nearly a century has passed since then, but neither of these records has been broken to this day.

One of his bizarre acts was telling a vulgar joke about "centaur, ghosts, and dwarves walking into a bar" during a speech at the 'Wizards and Peoples Friendship Conference', which angered the centaurs and led to a failed assassination attempt on him.

……

Felix stood outside the circle, while Professor McGonagall was arguing with a dwarf with the gloomiest face. He seemed to be the leader among them, carrying a dirty bundle on his back and gesturing wildly as he spoke.

"Ma'am, we have received your invitation; you cannot cancel!"

Professor McGonagall said impatiently, "I've said it three times already. Lockhart invited you, but he's about to be tried by Wizengamot."

"But...but...we have many talents, let me show you."

The dwarf opened the tattered bundle behind him, took out a pair of golden wings and put them on his back, and then picked up a small harp.