A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Chapter 159: The Beginning of the Holidays

Chapter 159: The Beginning of the Holidays

During the holidays, Hogwarts was quiet, and the courtyard was lush with plants, resembling a richly colored oil painting.

However, without the chattering students clutching their books, the scene felt lacking in vitality.

This made the ghosts, who were originally quite inconspicuous, suddenly more noticeable. Felix Harp could always catch a glimpse of the silver-white translucent figure darting past out of the corner of his eye on his way to the library.

Apart from the ghosts that resided at Hogwarts, some professors had also stayed behind. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were among them, as well as Sybill Trelawney.

The empty school led to increased interactions among the professors. During a small gathering, the tipsy Trelawney insisted on giving Felix a prophecy:

"Darkness, I see darkness..."

Felix watched her quietly. Trelawney stared wide-eyed, her gaze fixed on a bottle of sherry, studying it intently.

"Sybill, you're drunk," Professor McGonagall said, her cheeks slightly flushed from having had a bit of wine herself.

"No, I'm not! I see... a large black dog! With a vast army of darkness that shrouds everything. It envelops you completely." Trelawney rested one arm on McGonagall's shoulder and pointed at Felix's chest with the other, hiccuping as she said, "This is a turning point in your life. For... for more details, just three Galleons."

McGonagall mouthed, "She used to be a fortune teller before she became a professor." She waved her wand and levitated Trelawney onto the couch, then conjured a small blanket to cover her.

A large black dog? Felix pondered. Was it Fang, or perhaps the three-headed dog, Fluffy?

He did entertain the idea of going to see the three-headed dog with Hagrid, but he hadn't mentioned it to anyone.

Professor Flitwick, on the side, was using magic to transform glasses into various small animals. Soon enough, Professors McGonagall and Felix joined in. They engaged in a game of tabletop Quidditch with their wands.

As they exited, a breeze carrying the fragrant scent of summer and autumn rustled through, swiftly clearing Felix's gaze.

It had been a week since the holidays began. He had returned to his London cottage a few days ago, paid visits to some Muggle friends, and then promptly came back to Hogwarts.

Now, he stood atop the spiral staircase on the western side of the castle, at the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room.

A bronze eagle doorknocker barred his way. Besides that, there was no doorknob, no keyhole.

This was a distinctive feature of Ravenclaw House—the entrance to the common room wasn't protected by a password. Instead, a riddle was presented by the doorknocker. If you answered the question correctly, it would open and welcome you inside.

Felix lightly knocked on the doorknocker. The eagle's beak immediately opened, not with a screech, but with a gentle, melodic voice: "Tomorrow and unexpectedness, which arrives first?"

Felix earnestly replied, "That depends on how much preparation you've done 'today.'"

"Valid point." The voice finished speaking, and the door swung open.

The Ravenclaw common room was empty. Felix surveyed the circular room, adorned with a fairytale style—predominantly blue and bronze tones, a domed ceiling and a deep blue carpet adorned with stars, elegant arched windows draped with colorful silk.

He approached a window. The view from here was magnificent, allowing him to look down upon the school's Black Lake and the Forbidden Forest. In the distance, the surrounding mountains stretched out.

The room held tables, chairs, and bookshelves. In a niche across from the door stood a tall white marble statue.

It was a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, and after gazing at it for a moment, Felix's gaze fell upon a shelf.

On a shelf within was a one-foot-tall sculpture of a slender woman. She tilted her head slightly, looking calm and serene.

The sculpture was a bit rough, even the face of the figure was quite blurry. Fortunately, in front of her, there was a gilded nameplate with an inscription: "In Memory of the Ravenclaw House Ghost—Lady Grey, March 7th, 1993. A souvenir from the students."

Felix couldn't help but smile.

After a moment, he snapped out of his reverie and remembered the purpose of his visit. He began examining the magical traces on the shelves. Within the Room of Requirement, Lady Ravenclaw's memories mentioned that she had left some hidden magical legacies in the Ravenclaw common room for future seekers to discover.

Felix Harp approached this with a trial-and-error attitude, hoping to find something interesting.

His interaction with Lady Ravenclaw had been all too brief; he couldn't help but feel it was a missed opportunity.

Felix ran his fingers over the patterns on the shelves, but to no avail. He moved to other shelves, inspecting them carefully. Finally, on the third shelf, he sensed a very concealed magical fluctuation.

With a probing touch of magic, he attempted to interact with the enchantment. He found no danger. Yet, it seemed to be woven into the air, and Felix had to exert significant effort to extract it.

A milky light bloomed in the air. The next second, his vision blurred, then everything returned to normal.

He still stood within the Ravenclaw common room, as if the burst of light had been a mere illusion.

However, the books on the shelves suddenly held a deadly allure for him, and a voice in his mind told him: "I want to read every book on these shelves, I can do it."

This notion and emotion had come out of nowhere, as if they had been implanted in his mind.

"What is this?"

As a newly minted Master of Memory Magic, Felix quickly dampened his strong desire. He carefully analyzed and pondered over this magic.

"It's very much like my Room of Thought, pulling someone into a realm of thought. However, Lady Ravenclaw's approach is much more sophisticated than mine, extending time proportions longer and with fewer side effects..."

He casually flipped through the ordinary books on the shelf, finding nothing profound. He shifted his focus to the illusory Ravenclaw common room he was in.

He couldn't detect a single flaw.

"Quite fascinating, I never thought I'd be pulled into someone else's Room of Thought." Felix chuckled softly. His fingers danced swiftly, and arcane symbols materialized in the air.

"Hmm, Lady Ravenclaw had deep knowledge of ancient runes as well; that's understandable. Her time was one of transition between eras."

Ten, a hundred... soon, the number reached five hundred, and they kept increasing steadily—this was Felix's year of achievement in the Hogwarts library.

Then, Felix extended his hand. Guided by his thoughts, dozens to hundreds of runic symbols instantly flew to his hand, forming a mysterious pattern. Blazing flames erupted from his fingertips.

Suddenly, the entire world shook violently.

Felix withdrew the ancient magic, waving his hand to disperse all the runic symbols. "That was close. I almost damaged this place."

Carefully and cautiously, he proceeded to test the magical treasures left behind by Lady Ravenclaw.

Time passed bit by bit.

After an indeterminate amount of time, he was ejected by the magical restraint.

Felix looked out the window; it was already evening. "I might have been inside for several days, yet I'm not particularly tired..."

"Excellent, it's shown me the way forward for my Room of Thought."

"And this method of abruptly pulling someone is truly sophisticated; I didn't even notice. Memory magic, memory magic..."

"There's so much potential."

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