A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Chapter 295: The Event You're Worried About Will Happen in April

"This one's got talent."

On a Saturday morning, Felix watched Eddie Camille demonstrate his newly acquired magical writing skills and thought to himself.

Eddie held a cluster of small flames in his hands, displaying it to the others. Then, dramatically closing his palms and amidst the astonished gasps of the onlookers, he slowly opened his hands, revealing a continuously flickering orange-red magical script.

"Look, this is Flame Script. Want to learn?" he said mysteriously to his companions, "Just two Silver Sickles."

...

Exiting the Great Hall, Felix encountered Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Professor, we had an arrangement—" Harry panted.

Felix looked at them. "I was actually planning to notify you with Patronuses later, but alright, come with me."

He led the trio up to the eighth floor of the castle, standing opposite a tapestry. Harry glanced at the amusing depiction of a 'Troll Chasing a Ballet Teacher' before turning his attention back to Felix as they faced the blank wall.

"The castle has many hidden rooms, some of them quite magical, unaffected by anti-illusion spells. The Chamber of Secrets is one such room, and this is another," Felix explained.

"Throughout Hogwarts history, many have accidentally stumbled upon it—in times of need. However, afterwards, they found themselves unable to locate it again. So, it got a name, the Room of Requirement."

The trio repeated the name.

"But in reality, it has always been here, or rather, this is one of its fixed entrances." Felix continued. At this point, he seemed to drift off, lost in thought. The Room of Requirement was integrated into Hogwarts' magical defense system, relying on the castle's magic to function.

And as far as he knew, the entrance of the Room of Requirement could appear anywhere within the castle. If he could harness this power, could he bypass the restriction of the Anti-Disapparition Jinx?

He pushed that thought aside and continued, "The method to reveal the entrance is quite simple. Concentrate on the place you need, then pass by here three times. A door will appear on the wall, just like..."

He paused as a silvery door truly materialized on the wall. As the door swung open, a slightly tipsy woman emerged—it was Sybil Trelawney.

Felix couldn't help but marvel at his luck. It seemed this was their second meeting in front of the Room of Requirement; the first time, she had emerged carrying a bottle of spirits from her office, and he had casually inquired about the Room of Requirement. Now, they were face-to-face again.

"Felix... Harp?" Trelawney's gaze was hazy, and it took her a while to recognize him. "You, uh... hiccup~"

Felix took a step back. "Professor Trelawney, you're quite intoxicated, and it's morning."

"What does that matter? I don't have classes anyway!" She staggered a couple of steps and fixed her gaze on Hermione. "Child, I've seen you again. I've long foreseen, um, your departure, your eternal departure..."

Hermione's face tightened. "You should have directly mentioned my name at that time, Professor Trelawney."

Felix blinked; he happened to know about this. Hermione's assistant had recently dropped Divination, likely due to her underwhelming performance in the subject—she couldn't even match the level of those making things up. Before that, Trelawney had vaguely mentioned a "prophecy" in class: "Around Easter, one of us will depart forever~" It was hard to say whether these two events were connected.

Trelawney seemed to snap back to reality, raising her scarf slightly, making the shiny beads on it jingle. "The Inner Eye might become burdensome. I don't want to appear peculiar. You know..." With that, she drifted away slowly.

"Oh, by the way." Trelawney turned back, "Dear, the thing you're worried about will happen in April."

Harry and Ron looked at her skeptically, Ron taking a deep breath and asking softly, "Who's she talking about?"

Hermione's response was sharp, "There are four of us. If any one of us has a small incident in April, we'll know who she's talking about."

Felix's tone remained casual, "I am, in fact, attending the Order of Merlin ceremony in early April. I wonder if Sybill is referring to that... Honestly, I'm not too concerned."

They entered the Room of Requirement, finding themselves in a spacious classroom, devoid of occupants. The ceiling reached fifty feet, and the floor was impeccably clean, not a single hair out of place, painted in various colors like a field of colored squares.

Each square was marked with a number, repeating from one to ten.

"Professor, what do I do?" As the moment of truth approached, Harry suddenly felt nervous. He held his wand, attempting a somewhat goofy stance. Hermione and Ron were relieved they didn't need to participate today.

"Apply what you've learned from 'The Unnamed Book,'" Felix said. "I've taught you everything I can. Also, your essay was excellent."

"Really?" Harry was a bit embarrassed, but he did feel a surge of relief and joy. He wasn't sure if the professor was trying to reassure him, but he decided to go along with it.

"While the farther the Disapparation distance, the harder it becomes, we don't have to worry about a few feet," Felix stated. "So, pick a number you're interested in, Harry."

"Uh, I'll go with..." He hesitated, looking at the squares in front of him. "How about the number seven?"

"Very good," Felix encouraged, "You can close your eyes and listen to me read a guiding passage: Imagine yourself in warm sunlight... You hear birdsong, smell the fragrance of flowers. You're incredibly relaxed now, maintain that state. Imagine the square with the number seven, try to visualize it clearly. Now, begin to channel your magic. Suddenly, a strong desire wells up in your heart, you want to occupy the space in front of you. You can't wait any longer... right now!"

"Bang!"

The air burst with a crackling sound, like a firework igniting. Ron and Hermione watched in astonishment as Harry disappeared, only to reappear at the edge of the red square marked with the number seven.

Losing his balance, Harry stumbled forward, quickly reaching out to steady himself before embarrassing himself. Excitedly catching his breath, he looked down at his feet, "I, I did it—"

"Fantastic," Felix praised, "Next, let's try again. This time, without the guiding words, try it on your own."

Harry's confidence was soaring. He stared at the original spot—the white square marked with the number one. He focused on his goal, his determination steady.

He closed his eyes, feeling light and ethereal. Had he succeeded? He didn't hear any sound, so he opened his eyes, realizing he was still in the same spot.

"Give it another try, Harry. The feeling is crucial."

The third attempt failed again, making him anxious. The fourth, fifth—

"Bang!"

Hermione let out a shriek. Harry opened his eyes, finding himself inside the number one square. The only issue was that—his right leg remained twenty feet behind.

He had thought he might panic, fear rendering him unconscious, but he didn't. Besides the fact that Professor Harp was present, another reason was that he had experienced being fragmented numerous times from "The Unnamed Book."

"Fragmentation, a very normal phenomenon," Felix said calmly, walking over to Harry. With a wave of his wand, a burst of purple smoke dissipated, revealing Harry, seated on the ground, breathing heavily, sweat glistening on his face.

"Would you like to rest or continue?" Felix asked.

"Continue," Harry grinned, "Professor, I'm getting the hang of this special training thing."

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Still fragmented, this time it's the ear. Can you hear me—of course, let's continue."

"Bang!"

"Phew!"

"Not bad, you're becoming more skilled. Notice how the volume of the spellcasting sound is decreasing? We're on the right track!"

Ron and Hermione remained quiet like quails. Hermione whispered, "Is this the special training Harry mentioned? It's simply, simply..."

"Like self-torture, isn't it?" Ron described his feelings, "But it's effective. Apart from overcoming the psychological discomfort, oh no, fragmented again, this time it's the arm..."

Half an hour passed. "Let's take a break for a while, grab a bite to eat." Felix stopped Harry from continuing his Disapparition practice. He looked around the empty room and specified, "I need a table and four chairs."

The Room of Requirement complied, presenting a small brown table and four cozy armchairs.

Felix winked at them, "I'm demonstrating for you. You might find it useful in the future. Actually, you can just mentally request it." He waved his hand, and a few plates of appetizers and chocolates, along with a large jug of fresh orange juice, floated out from his left-hand ring.

Harry walked over, feeling light as air, legs like cotton. He slumped into the armchair, feeling utterly drained.

Felix conjured a straw and levitated a glass of orange juice in front of him. Harry lowered his head, took the straw in his mouth, and began to drink, "Gulugulu."

"Professor, if I want to practice Disapparition, do I need to do this too?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"You're different from Harry," Felix said, "He leans toward feelings, you lean more toward rationality. So, for you, it's better to practice while thinking, summarizing the successes and failures of each spellcasting."

"Hermione is the smartest witch I know," Harry said, lifting his head, and Ron nodded in agreement.

"It's not about being smart or not, Harry," Felix said gently, "Everyone excels in different ways. Some people simply rely on intuition to learn magic, like you. You can consider it a kind of innate talent."

Ron pondered for a moment. "I think I also rely on intuition, no, more on experience. I learned a lot of magic by experiencing it firsthand. Like the Impediment Jinx, Stunning Spell, Disarming Charm..."

Felix looked at Ron strangely. He had heard from Hermione that Ron had developed his own "experience-based learning method," physically experiencing the effects of spells, which greatly expedited his learning process. Once, while learning the Impediment Jinx, he had let Harry bind him over twenty times. By the end of that day's Dueling Club session, he managed to conjure a finger-thick rope with the spell.

It was said that quite a few people attempted to replicate his feat, but no one managed to reproduce Ron's achievement.

Felix speculated that either Ron had an innate talent for "growth through self-inflicted suffering," or his potential extended beyond that, but he didn't usually show it, so he unconsciously found such an outrageous excuse for himself.

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