A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

Seeing Dumbledore about to interrupt, Snape ignored him and continued reciting a passage: "In the Muggle world, if the proportion of nobles is one, then the proportion of commoners exceeds ten thousand. And when the rulers liberate the commoners, their development efficiency overwhelms all obstacles with unstoppable force!"

The entire principal's office fell silent.

Even the portrait of the headmaster, who was listening in from the side, gaped in astonishment. These words, which seemed to not mention the magical world but were simply an introduction and analysis of the development of the Muggle world, were actually full of allusions to the current magical world.

One of the portraits is filled with righteous indignation, shouting: "This is betrayal! A betrayal of pure-blood honor!"

The other portraits also started chattering.

Snape glanced at the portrait and scoffed, "Headmaster Black, that kid isn't a pureblood!"

Chapter 13 That kid is the Dark Lord!

The portrait of Principal Blake began to swear and curse. Soon, the other portraits couldn't stand it anymore and spoke up to refute him. One hot-tempered principal even rushed into his picture frame and started fighting with him.

Dumbledore ignored the portrait, his expression one of reminiscing. "Mr. Hyp certainly has a lot of ideas."

"In my opinion, that's a Muggle wizard's declaration of war against pure-bloods. His ambitions are greater than you can imagine; he is the next Dark Lord."

Dumbledore's expression turned solemn: "This is a very serious accusation, Severus."

“You always trust others so easily, Dumbledore,” Snape scoffed. “Perhaps he won’t start a war. I know him; he’s afraid of trouble.”

"But as you said, he has great potential. If I had to say who else in this century can catch up with you and that person, it would be him. Countless people will be willing to be his protectors, observing his every expression and studying his every word..."

He sarcastically remarked, "History always repeats itself. Perhaps this time, those stupid lions will be the ones following him."

"What would they call him? Perhaps, the White Demon King?"

“Severus, I never knew you had such a deep prejudice against him.” Dumbledore was very surprised.

"Hmph! I told you, I know him better than you think. I taught him for seven years!"

After much deliberation, Dumbledore finally decided to speak his mind: "I did hesitate for a long time. I saw the shadow of another person in him. The same Muggle orphanage background, the same Slytherin, the same excellence, the same pursuit of power..."

"But they are different."

"Voldemort used magic to frighten his companions, and he rallied them to fight against the bullies who harassed them. He still maintains contact with some people in the orphanage to this day."

"Voldemort was obsessed with power and gathered a group around him during his school years—the precursor to the Death Eaters. Felix, on the other hand, was disdainful of power. As you said, he hated trouble. Perhaps it can be summarized as he didn't want to put much effort into things he wasn't interested in, and power was one of them."

"Voldemort was an excellent student and very polite, and he got along well with every professor; while Felix only devoted his energy to subjects that interested him, and as far as I know, he never passed any of the following classes: history of magic, divination, astronomy, or flying! Despite his record-breaking score in spells."

"Voldemort was obsessed with power, and for this he did not hesitate to study the dark magic in depth while he was still in school. He was very talented in this area. Before he graduated, his mastery of the dark magic surpassed the efforts of some dark wizards in a lifetime."

“And Felix…” Dumbledore hesitated for a rare moment, “I must admit, he also studied the Dark Arts, right there in the Shrieking Shack. But before I could think of a proper way to dissuade him, he gave up on his own.”

Snape listened intently; the headmaster had really investigated that kid thoroughly!

He knew nothing about many of the past events.

Dumbledore concluded: "He has many virtues, including valuing friendship, rejecting power, being focused and thoughtful."

Snape opened his mouth as if to say something, but held back. He then gave a mocking smile, this time directed at the headmaster: "You're still so 'concerned' about your students! Tell me again, what has he been up to in the three years since graduation? While he's traveling the world, you weren't hiding in some bushes spying on him, were you?"

“Severus, don’t be so harsh on an old man.” Dumbledore looked sad, but the next second, his words left Snape speechless: “However, I did visit some of his colleagues in the Muggle world, and they spoke of Mr. Hyp in surprisingly high regard, and I confirmed that there was no trace of magic used.”

Seeing Snape's gaping expression, Dumbledore blinked. "Severus, you don't actually think I'm stupid enough to appoint someone as a professor at Hogwarts without even knowing what's going on?"

……

When Snape came out of the headmaster's office, he admitted he was somewhat convinced that the kid didn't seem so bad.

Even though he had threatened him—using his deepest secrets.

However, when he walked into the Great Hall and saw Felix waving his wand and conjuring a giant snake from the ceiling, with a certain figure he saw in the mirror every day inside the snake's mouth, he almost exploded with rage!

He was wrong!

Felix Heap is a complete bastard!

……

Felix was unaware of the conversation that had just taken place in the principal's office, and that he had even been labeled the "White Demon King" by someone. Seriously? Did he have that much free time?

He was completing his tasks methodically. During this time, the Hogwarts professors returned one by one, and Felix went up to greet them one by one.

On the importance of personal connections.

Until a special person appeared, a very handsome wizard, wearing a turquoise robe similar in color to himself, with light and smooth hair and white teeth.

Who is this Slytherin? I don't recognize them at all.

Felix wanted to observe further, but soon the wizard came to him, "Felix Hyp! I've heard so much about you, I've been looking forward to meeting you."

"Who are you?" Felix felt that this person looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he was.

The wizard seemed to have heard something unbelievable. His mouth dropped open, and he stood there for two seconds as if petrified. Then he quickly regained his smile and began to speak eloquently: "Felix, you must be busy studying Muggles and not paying much attention to the wizarding world. That's alright! I can reintroduce myself. Believe me, you deserve this honor."

Felix: "...Please go ahead."

“I,” the wizard blinked, “Giddro Lockhart, a third-class member of the Order of Merlin, an honorary member of the League Against the Dark Arts, and a five-time winner of the Wizarding Weekly’s Most Charming Smile Award—but I won’t wear that on my sleeve. I don’t exorcise the ghost of Warren with a smile!”

Gidrollowhat?

Felix remembered reading his biography; it described a rather impressive list of adventures. Experienced and resourceful. However, the man seemed somewhat secretive, habitually revealing only half of his knowledge in his writings, never revealing the crucial details!

Felix became interested and started thinking about how to get some useful information out of him.

“So it’s Mr. Lockhart. I’ve read your books; they’re excellent. Your experiences are fascinating…” Felix said flatteringly, and in less than three minutes, he had become confidants with the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

At the same time, he secretly admired his courage. The curse of the Dark Lord, ah, he didn't care at all?

He knew how demanding this course was, and despite Hogwarts' perennial shortage of professors, he dared not even consider taking the job.

That's truly a case of exceptional skill and daring!

However, judging from his experiences in the book, Lockhart was indeed an extremely perceptive and genius wizard who always managed to escape danger!

It seems I need to pay more attention. What does this professor like to do again?

Felix fell into deep thought.

Chapter 14 Opening Ceremony

Time passed slowly, and the sky gradually darkened.

Thousands of candles were burning above the auditorium, the ceiling was decorated with a beautiful cosmic starry sky, and the tables and chairs were arranged neatly.

All the professors were present, even Dumbledore. Only Hagrid had to pick up the first-year wizards and had to leave temporarily.

Not far away, Professor Lockhart stood with Professor Flitwick and Headmaster Dumbledore, his self-praising voice echoing throughout the Great Hall, "Yes... it's a very simple matter, my badge is not fake, hahaha..."

Felix and Snape each occupied a corner, observing everything that happened in the Great Hall.

He was quite puzzled. Just moments ago, he had hardly spent any effort getting Professor Lockhart to speak freely. He was even willing to share his own adventures, as long as you were a good straight man.

However... the results were meager.

Lockhart is wary of him? That doesn't seem likely at all. Is he an actor? Gathering information through exaggerated words and self-praise?

Felix was completely baffled, as was a certain professor.

Snape stood in another corner, a mocking smile on his face, seemingly laughing at someone.

What happened to Professor Snape?

He didn't have this gloomy and sarcastic face when he was in school, did he?

What happened during those three years?

Felix felt his usual sharp mind was not up to the task, and he became increasingly cautious. He then joined Professor Sprout's conversation and talked to her about the magical plant.

“Felix, I must say, you didn’t put much effort into herbalism class when you were in school.”

"Professor, I was distracted by other subjects at the time, I was too busy."

“I don’t think so. You went to great lengths to ask me about those dangerous plants and what their weaknesses were…” Sprout remembered this vividly.

Uh, that's a dark history. He really wasn't interested in herbalism at the time.

Can you provide power?

No? No way!

Therefore, his grades in herb class were always poor, hovering between A (pass) and P (poor). However, he was very good at dealing with dangerous magical plants, and even went to great lengths to find out their weaknesses and try to solve them in the least effortful way.

He shares this philosophy with the Magical Creatures Conservation Class.

All I can say is that he was indeed somewhat obsessed with his beliefs during those years.

A commotion arose in the distance.

"The students are here!"

Professor McGonagall stood up and hurried away. The other professors, guided by Headmaster Dumbledore, took their seats. Felix particularly wanted to sit with Professor Snape, trying to observe what unknown changes had taken place in him over the years, but he quickly avoided him.

Fellowship had no choice but to target his second option, sitting down next to Lockhart.

Professor Flitwick seemed to be quite bothered by Lockhart, and seeing Felix arrive was a welcome relief, so he offered Felix his seat without hesitation.

After sitting down, Felix skillfully began the conversation, "Professor Lockhart, your descriptions of vampires in 'Walking with Vampires' are fantastic, but I have a few small questions..."

Now it was Lockhart's turn to be restless. He kept changing the subject and never got to the point, so Felix had to wisely stop the conversation.

I'm being disliked...

The atmosphere was a little awkward, but soon Professor McGonagall led the students into the Great Hall, where the young wizards from the second to the seventh year sat on either side of four long tables according to their respective houses.

Professor McGonagall, however, seemed to be in a bad mood. She quickly went to Dumbledore and whispered something, and the headmaster's face immediately turned serious. He said a few words to McGonagall, she nodded, then called Snape, and the two left the Great Hall together.

What happened? Felix wanted to get involved, but this wasn't the right time to use magic to find out.

Meanwhile, the newly enrolled young wizards were very excited, chattering incessantly, making the Great Hall exceptionally lively. The professors, quite understandingly, did not step in to stop them, and Headmaster Dumbledore's expression turned smiling again as he watched all this, stroking his silver-white beard.

Felix also looked around with interest. There were quite a few people he knew here. After all, he had only graduated three years ago. In other words, he had met all the students above the fourth year.

Slytherin House.

The tall and imposing Marcus Flint was talking animatedly about his summer vacation experiences, his voice clearly audible even three seats away. Just as he was getting into his rant, his companion quietly tugged at his arm.

Marcus Flint was getting impatient. What? Don't bother me while I'm posing, pshaw! Don't bother me while I'm sharing my interesting experiences!

When his companion pulled him a second time with even greater force, he finally turned his head and saw the boy looking terrified, frantically winking at the professor's chair.