Harry Potter: A Certain Ancient Rune Professor of Hogwarts (TL)

Chapter 517

At the table, Felix and Sirius’ conversation continued –

“As soon as Kingsley agrees, he’s the nominal organizer.” Felix whispered.

“I’ll talk to him, but he probably won’t be able to come over until tomorrow morning, you know, given his status as Ministry of Magic’s Auror.” Sirius said, spitting out a chicken bone.

The relationship between the Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry of Magic is interesting. The two are independent of each other, yet inextricably linked, as many members of the Order of the Phoenix are also working in the Ministry of Magic.

Amelia Bones knew this well, but she did not do anything against it.

On the one hand, it is out of respect for Dumbledore, on the other hand, it also has a more positive practical significance. The Ministry of Magic has a complicated workforce, and many wizards will try to climb into a relationship with a pure-blood family by doing a few gray and black deals, so it’s easy to say that the Ministry of Magic is nothing more than a bucket with many holes.

Thief’s Downfall can only wash away the spells, but cannot explore people’s hearts.

In some important tasks – such as escorting the Hogwarts Express, in addition to the strict secrecy in advance, Ms. Bones must also carefully select the personnel involved, to prevent leaks.

And regarding confidentiality, the Order of the Phoenix has a natural advantage.

After dinner, Felix calculated the time and picked Hermione up from her home.

“I set up wards near your home,” Felix said: “similar to the effect of The Trace – when someone in the neighbourhood casting spells, I will immediately get the message. And the situation at present is not that serious, Voldemort is taking a contraction strategy, you do not have to worry about your family’s well-being.”

“I understand.” Hermione nodded lightly, but her eyebrows still concealed a heavy worry.

“You look troubled, Miss Granger.” Felix pointed to a bench under a lush tree with a hanging bell, “Why don’t we sit there, once I have rested there.” He was referring to the time he had come out of the Department of Mysteries, and Hermione easily understood what he meant.

“Professor–”

At this point, the two sat on a bench and looked at the crowds of people that passed and strolled through the Muggle community from time to time.

Felix turned his head slightly sideways in Hermione’s direction, gazing at the beautiful setting sun.

” Do wizards and muggles really not co-exist?” Hermione asked with hesitation.

“What do you think?” Felix asked gently.

“I think,” Hermione spoke hesitantly for a moment, then rattled off, as if she had been holding these words in her mind for a long time and had made several drafts, “of course I want both to coexist, after all, I am caught between them, I mean my origin. But I read in a book – well, there are similar cases in the History of Magic book – about how wizards and muggles were originally not separated from each other throughout history, but things didn’t turn out so well, they were hostile to each other, and many conflicts broke out, and the great witch hunts of the fourteenth century are just a reflection of this saga.”

“That’s right.” Felix said approvingly.

“Also, many wizards chose to stay away from the public, the books explain this by saying that they were doing so in order not to violate the Statute of Secrecy, but in fact, this phenomenon existed even long before the Statute of Secrecy was introduced, and there is also the theory that wizards could not stand the sight of muggles and could not tolerate their smell, but- ”

“Sounds like a loser’s self-comfort?” Felix didn’t realize that he is smiling.

Hermione hesitated and nodded unnoticeably, “But aren’t wizards supposed to have the upper hand? After all, they have magic?”

“Well, that’s a complicated question, I’ll try to explain. You can look at the social structure of a wizard; a mature wizard can satisfy most of his needs that normal people require the help of society to satisfy, with the help of magic. This leads to the fact that – wizards are far less connected to each other than ordinary people, in other words, you can hardly organize them to work for a common goal. As far as I know, the last person who wanted to break this invincible prison known as Statute of Secrecy is still imprisoned in Nurmengard because he wanted to rule muggle before they became uncontrollable.”

“Gellert Grindelwald?” Hermione asked in a whisper, the name seemed to hold great power.

“Yes, and he made use of people’s discontent with the Statute of Secrecy for that goal.” Felix said calmly, “And, you’re missing the rather crucial point – magic is very rare in the real world, but it is quite common among wizards -”

“Isn’t that natural?”

“Of course not.” Felix said in a tone of discussing academic matters, “I’ve been in contact with some occult societies that take magic very … well … perhaps consider magic as something ‘sacred ‘? Do you think they can imagine real wizards using magic to do laundry and cook and make fires and water their plants?”

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows in serious thought.

“So – well, wizards are used to using magic to solve all sorts of troubles, and the day-to-day type of life magic is the norm, right?”

“They’re either civilians, or pragmatists, but never a soldier.” Felix summarized briefly, “Magic in their hands is also not a weapon, but a tool – at least for most wizards. So when facing an emergency, they don’t use magic to their advantage to make more clever choices, especially young children. To protect their families, wizards choose to back off voluntarily.”

“But there are exceptions,” Hermione affirmed, “Wendelin, the fourteenth century witch, was very fond of being burned and had allowed herself to be caught by people in various disguised forms as many as forty-seven times.”

“In those days, ‘unattached’ wizards always lived more freely.” Felix said.

The two of them sat quietly for a while until the sky darkened, casting a shadow on the ground. They watched a young couple out for a walk, their child – probably only a year or two old – stumbling ahead.

“Professor, when did the word muggle originate?” Hermione asked again when the family had walked past.

“Ah, that’s an interesting question. I guess you’re asking if the word has a derogatory connotation?” Felix asked with a smile, and without waiting for Hermione to answer, he continued, “The exact origin of the word is untraceable, and who knows what was in the mind of the first wizard who uttered ‘muggle’, but he did take a cheap advantage of the fact that there was no standardized term in the magical world for ‘non-magical person’, so the term was accepted by more and more wizards.”

“Whether or not it contains a derogatory meaning depends on the tone of the speaker, both the Weasleys and the Malfoys use this term, but they must have had very different notions, which you should have an inkling?”

The shadow belonging to Hermione nodded.

“But in general, if you use the word in a conversation with ordinary people, it will carry a hint of arrogance and indifference that belongs to wizards. A very subtle difference that perhaps only a young wizard from a Muggle family can perceive.”

“Why is that?”

“Would you like to be labelled,” Felix asked rhetorically, “especially if you don’t know what that label means?”

“Of course not-” it dawned on her, “That’s why you never used the word ‘muggle’ when you were communicating with my father and mother. ”

“I was trying to reduce the communication barrier,” Felix nodded slightly, “It’s obviously easier for them to understand the term ‘ordinary people’ or ‘non-magical person’, however, If you have a wizard standing opposite you, it would seem very odd and wordy to talk like that.”

Hermione understood a little. She liked the professor’s approach better, showing respect for the speaker.

“What about the first question?”

“Can wizards and muggles co-exist? I can’t give an answer to that, Miss Granger, but I think that the trend towards integration is inevitable, or more accurately, I think it’s only a matter of time before the magical world is exposed to the general public.”

“Oh, I see! So, Professor, did you create the ‘Future World’ company because of it?” Hermione asked keenly.

Felix gave a light laugh.

“I wanted to create a buffer zone, a responsibility that we – wizards of muggle origin – naturally carries.”

Hermione broke into a smile, although she had never felt inferior because of her origins, she still felt anger and hurt when Malfoy called her a ‘mudblood’, and after today, if Malfoy ever said such a thing again, she would just pity him and think he is shallow and stupid.

Although Malfoy no longer used it in the past two years.

Is it because of the professor, too? Hermione thought, she felt a little regret that she had not been able to see this scene in time travel. At first, she seemed like a shadow that shouldn’t exist, out of place in the whole world, wandering aimlessly between the castles and grounds of Hogwarts, and even the ghosts couldn’t spot her.

But she also saw a lot of secrets that were previously inaccessible.

Hermione survived the hardest days with the food in the beaded pouch, but there was always a time when the food ran out, just when she thought she would be like all those time travellers, trapped in time and starving to death, the gods of luck finally came.

A crack appeared in the Time-Turner.

In the tension and fear at the same time, Hermione found herself once again possessing an entity, she rushed to sneak into the kitchen to steal food, after a full meal, Hermione was in the mood to consider whether her actions are changing history, or become a part of one of the many strange rumours at Hogwarts.

A food-stealing ghost?

But she was too hungry to care that much. It turned out she was right to do so – two hours after that she was taken on a time jump and her body reverted to a near-void state, but the good news was that she was gradually figuring out the routine and could do things she had previously wanted to do but couldn’t.

For example, mailing a letter.

After almost a month and a half in this way, Hermione discovered that she had gained a solid body in her normal state as if cloaked in an invisibility cloak. She guessed that as she moved closer to the normal timeline, she herself is moving closer to the real thing. It is only a matter of time before she is discovered.

So she escaped from school and returned home, ready to document her experiences and spend some final time with her parents. After that … Hermione pursed her lips and looked at Felix: “Thank you, Professor.”

“What?”

“Oh, I mean, I seem to have found a new goal that encompasses the previous one – Professor, I’m planning on joining the Ministry of Magic after I graduate.” Hermione said.

“A bad news, I thought you would choose ‘Future World’ company.” Felix sounded a little vexed.

“I wouldn’t give up ancient runes either.” Hermione said greedily.

…

Felix and Hermione returned to the old Black mansion, and before they could say a few words, it is time for bed. Mrs. Weasley stopped Ron from continuing to brag about his new broom and shooed them back to their room.

“That’s Nimbus 2000!”

Ron and Ginny shouted in unison. But immediately Ron looked at Ginny warily, “You don’t expect me to lend you my broom, do you?”

” Stingy.”

Ginny grunted and stood up haughtily like a proud cat.

“Come on, kids, you have to go to bed early today, otherwise, there’s bound to be a big mess tomorrow.” Mrs. Weasley said with great conviction. “I’ll have to wake you up early or someone will miss something again ….”

She was right. Early in the next morning, the whole house is in chaos like a chicken coop. Mrs. Weasley and the portrait of Mrs. Black who hung in the foyer simultaneously screamed at the top of their lungs.

“- No magic! You two idiots–”

“–dirty bastards, defiling my ancestral house–”

Harry got dressed in a heartbeat, and shoved his toiletries haphazardly into his trunk, while the others looked like they had their hands full until they boarded the Hogwarts Express and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Fred and George tried to cast a spell on the suitcase, and it almost hit me …,” Ginny explained to Harry about the morning’s events.

Harry scratched his head, not knowing how to face Ginny alone – just now, Ron and Hermione went to the Prefect compartment, “Uh, are you okay?” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he felt like crap.

“I’m fine.” Ginny showed a smile as they carried their luggage along looking for an empty compartment, not far in front of them there is a girl with messy, waist-length blonde hair. “I spotted Luna, let’s go there.” Ginny said.

Harry looked up and even though he only saw her back, Harry recognized her immediately from the way she moved indistinctly as she fluttered into the compartment.

They squeezed through the crowd and met Neville midway, “Oh dear, Harry, I thought I was late.” He said happily, ” So close.”

On the other hand, Felix arrived at a compartment near the front and opened the door where several Aurors and members of the Order of the Phoenix sat quietly inside.

“Hello guys.”

Kingsley, Derris, Moody, and Dedalus Diggle nodded at him respectively.

Felix picked an empty seat and sat down. It is obvious that with so many people sitting in the same compartment it would become a little cramped, Moody’s condition is bad, he is uneasy, his eyelids are fluttering and his big rough hands are always trying to grab something.

“You mustn’t draw your wand, Alastor.” Dedalus Diggle who is sitting next to him said carefully.

Felix blinked, thinking that the trip had become interesting, and he took out a coin and let it jump around his fingertips as his mind wandered. Dumbledore appeared and spoke to him last night, and the words they have spoken emerged in his mind, well, when the time comes, what is a good reason to leave? To find a snack cart to buy snacks?

He sighed silently, feeling it does not fit his image.

————

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