abcnovels
Chapter 215: Assessment
Chapter 215: Assessment
Chapter 215: Assessment
"Professor." "Hello, Professor Harp."
Harry, Cedric, Ron, and Hermione greeted.
"Come and have a seat." Felix Harp nodded at them. With a wave of his wand, four small low tables rose from the ground, and the four of them took their seats.
One by one, small teacups jumped into their hands, followed by an elegant, slender-necked teapot that gracefully inclined and poured out amber liquid.
Harry sipped the tea. He rarely drank tea, but he found the taste quite pleasant. The long-necked teapot leaned over, wanting to refill his cup. He curiously scratched the teapot's belly with his finger, and it suddenly trembled, as if tickled in an itch. It shook and spilled tea all over the small table.
"Apologies, Professor? It suddenly became..." Harry was somewhat puzzled.
"Oh, it's not your fault." Felix Harp waved his wand, calming the teapot down. "I've been trying to make them more interactive lately, more autonomous... but sometimes they seem to get a bit too lively."
Hermione asked in surprise, "You've given them intelligence?"
"Not that exaggerated," Felix Harp explained. "It's more like a rigid response. Based on feedback mechanisms, they—" he pointed to the small platform in front of them, "are actually more advanced."
The four's gaze fell on the magical puppets—
The play was still ongoing, and these 'actors' seemed to genuinely possess their own intelligence. Some delivered their lines with full emotion, smoothly reciting their lines, while others seemed a bit perfunctory, pausing from time to time as if they had forgotten their lines, only to continue a few seconds later.
The ones with no tasks at the moment would look around, appearing rather unprofessional. Like a peculiar-looking old man puppet, who held a jug of wine and occasionally took a sip from it.
Harry stared for a while and finally confirmed that the little jug was purely decorative. He said with a quizzical expression, "Professor, do they also slack off?" He searched his memory for similar examples, "Like the portraits in the school, with their own interests?"
Felix Harp explained, "Their intelligence is similar to that of portraits, but fundamentally, they lack emotions. All their actions are designed. Of course, I didn't intend to give them human-level intelligence, just enough to understand simple commands."
The four listened with mixed understanding. Ron said enviously, "Sounds a bit like house-elves, they can help with household chores and such. I once hoped to have one to do my homework for me."
Hermione said, "Ron, they wouldn't do such mundane tasks."
"No, Hermione, you don't know. They do everything, they're versatile," Ron argued, "Don't believe me, ask Harry, Dobby must have told him, right?"
Harry shook his head, "Dobby didn't talk much about his life at the Malfoy's, but it must have been quite terrible." He looked at Felix Harp, "Professor, is Dobby doing well now?"
The day before the start of the school year, Dobby resigned from the Leaky Cauldron and was currently handling some book publishing issues for Professor Harp.
Felix Harp nodded with a smile, "He's doing fine. I'm actually considering giving him a raise..." He waved his wand, ending the theatrical performance. "Alright, let's get back on track. Are all of you planning to join the Magical Writing Club?"
"Yes, Professor." Harry pulled out a stack of parchment, "This is my essay." Ron also took out a few slightly crumpled pieces of parchment from his bag, trying to flatten the curled corners.
Felix Harp's wand tapped on them, immediately making them neat.
Ron asked with great interest, "Professor Harp, what magic is this?"
Felix Harp said casually, "Just a simple little trick, it might not even count as magic."
He turned to Cedric, "Diggory, judging from your performance in class, you're definitely qualified..."
Cedric declined his offer, "I've been practicing in private for quite some time. I wanted you to see the results."
Felix Harp had no reason to refuse. He took out a partially finished magical puppet from a ring. It only had shallow traces of magical writing on it, "You have about two hours, I think that should be enough."
Cedric took it energetically and began to work earnestly.
Felix Harp waved his wand, creating silence around him to prevent any disruptions. Cedric was initially surprised but quickly understood, smiling at Felix Harp to express his gratitude.
The students participating in the assessment arrived one after another, all curiously observing the space. Several seventh-year students pointed and chatted, wearing nostalgic expressions.
One senior student sighed, "We took Magical Writing Practical class here last year. I found three hidden boxes and collected a precious magical manuscript."
Harry and his companions busily recorded the information of the participants, spotting many familiar faces.
Harry saw a few of his former teammates, "Angelina, Alicia, Katie, you all came!" He also noticed the twins approaching from a distance and joked, "Is today a team reunion?"
"Oh no, Katie and I are here to give it a try. Alicia is quite hopeful," Angelina said. "As for Wood, he didn't come. I guess he's somewhere hidden, studying new tactics. It's his last year, he definitely wants another Quidditch Cup."
While speaking, the twins approached each other with shoulders linked, seemingly playing a game. When they got closer, Harry realized their legs were stuck together tightly.
"We're testing the limits of the Sticky Hex with this spell," Fred winked. "Isn't it cool?"
The twins exaggeratedly acted it out, but they lost control of the distance and ended up rolling onto the ground together.
The three girls burst into laughter, and Angelina waved her hand, saying, "Oh my, don't make me laugh."
Ron rarely saw the twins in such a misfortunate state. He approached them with a grin, squatting in front of them, holding a piece of parchment, "Excuse me, your chosen assessment task is—"
The twins lay on the ground, and Fred laughed heartily, "Silly kids, we're just here to watch the fun. We got internal invitations long ago."
Ron looked at them in surprise, "Are you serious?"
"Of course, I think Hermione got an invitation too."
"But she wrote an essay like us!" Ron exclaimed.
Upon hearing Ron's words, Fred looked at George and pretended to be contemplative, "Shouldn't we reflect on ourselves a bit? This way, we might seem like we're slacking off."
George sighed, "Thankfully, we came prepared."
The two stood up from the ground and approached Felix Harp, taking out palm-sized heart-shaped blocks from their pockets. "Professor, do you remember the Relationship Mirror from last semester? This is the final product."
Felix Harp toyed with the magical creation in his hand, which looked even more refined now, one side painted black and the other side painted pink. His finger touched it, and the heart-shaped block split into two halves automatically.
"You've designed it as a pair? A clever concept..."
The interior resembled a miniature makeup mirror, but instead of a mirror surface in the middle, there was a carefully polished circular plane coated with silver powder.
On the outer edge of the circular plane were carved some patterns. Felix Harp traced his fingers along these uneven grooves, sensing familiar traces.
"Is this the magical circuit I taught you last year?"
"Exactly, we used your suggestions and applied magical circuits to store synchronous magic. The effect is excellent—communication is more accurate, and the range is greater," Fred said.
George added, "We also added anti-deciphering spells."
Percy, who had appeared at some point, stood off to the side with Penelope Clearwater from Ravenclaw. Penelope said to Percy, "They seem to have come up with something remarkable, that Relationship Mirror."
"You knew?" Percy said in surprise.
Penelope calmly replied, "They slipped into the Ravenclaw common room a couple of days ago, promoting their new product and jotting down a few names of potential buyers."
"And you didn't shoo them away?"
"Why would I? Ravenclaw welcomes anyone who can answer the door riddle. Besides," she smiled, "I've put my name on that list too."
"Penny, how could you..." Percy fell silent as he watched the twins in the distance, engrossed in conversation with Professor Harp, earnestly discussing things with excited expressions on their faces.
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