Dumbledore looked around, taking in the expressions of everyone. He looked a little tired, but still smiled and said, “Alastor, there are two Aurors from the Ministry of Magic that need some information, and I brought them in.”
A tall man dashed in, and Felix glanced at the stern-faced Kingsley, who was followed by Tonks, she changed her short hair red today and a handful of strands stood up in a haphazard fashion, looking rather conspicuous. When Felix looked over, she waved at him enthusiastically.
From the mouth of Tonks’ open shirt pocket, a thin blue glass tube half-revealed, it should be the new super bubble solution from ‘Future World’ …
Moody grinned oozingly at his two uninvited guests, “Scrimgeour sent you here?”
“Mrs. Bones asked me to say hello to you, Alastor; We all care about you, and by the way, I’m an official Auror now!” Tonks said with a jubilant smile.
Sirius’ eyes rolled as Moody said dully, “I hope they didn’t slacked on your infiltration and trailing classes.”
Tonks grunted softly, ” It’s just you are the only one who’s being too strict.”
At that moment, the dark-skinned Kingsley opened his briefcase, and with a flick of his wand, a piece of parchment flew out of it, with dense writing appeared on it and several handwritten signatures already in the bottom column.
” We can catch up later on, Alastor.” Kingsley said in his characteristic low and slow voice, “We’re here with a mission, the senior officials in the Ministry are busy, so I’m here to question you on behalf of the Minister of Magic, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Wizengamot and the Auror office about what happened to you over the past few months, they’ve prepared some questions … Headmaster Dumbledore?”
Kingsley glanced cautiously at Dumbledore.
“Ah, Everyone let’s go out first, Kingsley and Alastor are old acquaintances, they won’t fight.” Dumbledore said to the crowd with a smile, followed by calling Snape, the first one who was ready to leave, “Please wait, Severus, I have a couple of minor questions about the potion analysis report you handed me.”
The crowd walked out of the ward, and when Madam Pomfrey closed the door Felix caught a glimpse of Kingsley and Moody on the bed hugging each other through the last gap, “Bang!” Then the door closed tightly.
Sirius whispered, “Headmaster Dumbledore, my substitute …”
“Sirius,” Dumbledore’s tone got a little more serious, “I didn’t deny your application, but it’s obvious that you’re not exactly cut out to be a professor right now–”
“But I’ve got good grades!” Sirius said in annoyance, glaring at Snape, who had a mocking expression on his face and wanted to smash his fist in his face.
“I’m not referring to your grades, you should know that,” Dumbledore said.
Sirius’ face fell again, and Harry was tempted to put in a few good words for his godfather, but Professor Hap opposite to him shook his head slightly, so he had to hold back a bellyful of good words.
“Albus, Professor Moody’s appointment is only supposed to be limited to one year, right?” Felix asked mildly.
Dumbledore gave him a knowing smile, “Yeah, Alastor’s retired, so it’s not nice of me to work him too hard, and the circumstances are exceptional and unique this year … It’s quite a headache to think that I’ll have to write a new job ad for every six-month period.”
In the outer corridor of the hospital wing, Dumbledore and Snape headed upstairs, it looks like their destination should be the Headmaster’s Office. Felix figured out what it’s for when Dumbledore mentioned the potion analysis report earlier, it should be about the residual potion they found in the Chamber of Secrets, which probably was used by Voldemort to keep his body from breaking down.
But right now it is not the best place to ask detailed questions, he turned around and looked at Sirius, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville – group, and asked them: “I’m going to go to Hagrid’s place, you guys …”
“Us too.” Harry said immediately. Ron and Hermione nodded like a chicken peck, and Neville looked around for a second, rubbing his head.
“Then let’s go together, maybe you guys can help out a little.” Felix said cheerfully, seeing Harry’s puzzled expression, he explained: “Hagrid’s Firetrail Snails grow too fast, the scary thing is, they do not need to hibernate but still have plenty of energy. Hagrid asked me to build a few chains to prevent the aggressive actions of these creatures as they fight within the group and kill themselves or escape and turn into food for forbidden forest creatures…”
The young wizards, who are no strangers to Firetrail Snails, turned pale.
They walked out of the castle, stepping through the deep snow, the biting wind penetrated their thick clothes, the young wizards shivered from the cold, Sirius, although his face looked pale, he looked much better compared to the rest.
Felix waved his wand, “Warmth spell (*made-up spell*) – one of the most practical magic in winter if you have not purchased a thermostatic locket yet.”
They immediately warmed up, their pace slowed down, and stepping on the snow became a winter treat. Harry tsked, while Hermione asked in amazement, “Professor, what is the incantation for this magic?”
“RECALFACIO sicut fornax.”
“Is it easy to learn? If I learn it, is it possible to achieve the same effect as a thermostatic locket?” Ron asked.
“Your two brothers asked me the same question,” Felix said with a smile, “but unfortunately, it only works in winter.”
Ron pouted, “Now it finally makes sense why they are invincible in snowball fights.”
“Professor, who is Mrs. Bones?” Harry thought of the name Tonks had mentioned, the family name sounded familiar.
“Amelia Bones, the current Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, has quite a well-deserved reputation.” Felix said simply.
“Susan Bones’ aunt.” Hermione whispered, and it suddenly dawned on Harry.
“Sirius, do you know her?” Harry asked his godfather, thinking that Sirius should know her from the way he had behaved earlier.
Sirius thought about it and smacked his lips before saying, “A bit of an impression … when I was at school she was four years senior to me, a very smart and serious witch,” he muttered in a small voice, “I seem to have made her cry. ”
“What happened?” Hermione asked with interest.
“Oh, it’s a long time ago …” he said helplessly when he saw that Harry was also looking at him with interest: “You should know that you can’t do magic in the school corridors… …”
Harry and the group nodded their heads.
“When I first enrolled in school, I showed off the Wand-Lighting Charm in the corridor, of course, I made some sort of adjustment … Amelia happened to see it and jumped at the chance to give me a point deduction, she was the Prefect at that time … ”
“I believe Prefect shouldn’t have the power to deduct points.” Ron muttered, remembering his second year when he got his points deducted by Percy.
Sirius smiled understandingly, “Remus was also a Prefect, and I happen to know some insider knowledge that Prefects can’t just deduct points at will, they have to write notes for every deduction they make, and there are other restrictions … like Amelia only deducting two points that time. ”
“That doesn’t sound like much.” Harry said.
“Yeah,” Sirius said emotionally, “but I was very unconvinced, so I ran under her eyes and continued to use the Wand-Lighting Charm, the colourful light flashed on her lenses … she was naturally very displeased and gave me a point deduction again, but I kept on chanting the spell, we were at a standstill for a long time, and finally she deducted approximately two hundred or so points I think?”
Harry and the group stared with wide eyes.
Sirius smiled cheekily: “Actually, it’s because the school has just started not long ago, and the points of each house were not that high, and I remember there were only a few rubies in the Gryffindor House hourglass left after that?”
“You just got away with it?” Harry asked incredulously.
“It wasn’t that simple, I was detained for a week,” Sirius said carelessly, “but Amelia didn’t fare well either, I heard she finished writing those reports in tears.”
Harry thought it would be wise to keep this from Susan Bones, who adored her aunt so much, but Ron had the opposite idea.
“Why don’t we have a dueling study group, Harry? It was ages ago when we had an event last time.” Ron leaped to his feet and said, “We could get Sirius to be our guide.”
Sirius looked a little tempted, but declined, “I can’t enter Hogwarts at will, it was Hagrid who helped me this time.”
They came in front of Hagrid’s hut, Hagrid is working in the pumpkin patch behind the hut, and there are only about a dozen Firetrail Snails left, but they have grown a LOT more, even in the winter snow, they are still full of energy.
“You guys are here?” Hagrid gasped for breath as he yelled, and then he suddenly lunged forward at a Firetrail Snail that had broken free, and when he got up from the snow, the crowd saw that the Firetrail Snail he was holding down under his body no longer moved.
“Is it dead?” Felix asked.
“Not yet,” Hagrid said gruffly, “probably passed out.” He flipped the Firetrail Snail over and picked up a thick rope next to it which he tied around the middle of its body, Felix guessed that should be the waist of the Firetrail Snail? If the creature even had that body structure.
He came closer and gently poked the sunken thick shell of the Firetrail Snail with his wand, and a few of its legs weakly stirred twice, proving it is still alive.
Felix quickly cast a spell to conjure chains, as he told Hagrid, “I left some gaps, but if they continue to grow, they may need to be expanded subsequently.”
“I see,” Hagrid said gruffly, “that’s fine.”
When they sat on the blanket in Hagrid’s hut, Hagrid continued to lament about creatures like the Firetrail Snail: “They are quite docile, they don’t hurt people much … but they like to fight internally, I’m not sure which side is influencing them, probably the manticore, as they have always lived alone. ”
Harry who is holding the hot tea in his hand felt the tea was no longer flavourful.
Felix said, “It’s best not to set them free for now, Severus is studying the medicinal value of such creatures–”
“Cough, cough, cough!”
Neville suddenly coughed violently, “Oh, I’m sorry …” he said with a horrified expression.
“What’s wrong with him?” Hagrid asked in disbelief, reaching over and patting Neville, who dropped to the floor at once.
Ron said with great understanding, “He probably thought of the material he would have to deal with later after blowing up another cauldron …” When he said that, Harry also suddenly felt psychological discomfort, Snape always had the habit of punishing students by making them handle disgusting potion materials, especially the materials which are not very valuable and that could be purchased easily in bulk.
Whether it is the shell of the Firetrail Snail or their sticky body or the slime-like thing, if Snape found a good use for it, it will become a nightmare for the students.
And Harry could guarantee that they would be the first students to be victimized.
Hagrid passed him a towel, Neville took it, and it immediately moved on its own, wiping a few times indiscriminately on his face, under his chin, and on his collar, “Oh, sorry, that’s an automatic cleaning rag!” Hagrid snatched it away with an apologetic look on his face.
“No, it’s okay.” Neville said with a pale face.
Hagrid looked at him hesitantly and brought over a plate of hard cookies from the inner room, “You can try this.” Neville politely picked up a piece and immediately put it down when he noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione shook their heads firmly and slowly.
It’s a good thing Hagrid didn’t notice this, as he was talking to Felix: “The Firetrail Snail molted some shells, and I didn’t know if it would be of any use to you, so I saved some for you.”
Felix nodded, “This is a type of new material, no one has deeply researched it before, but I think that it will have the characteristics of both the Sphinx and the Manticore – perhaps even fire crab too, it’s just hard to say which one it is more inclined to. If it’s the former, it’s very valuable.”
“Mr. Scamander did not talk to me much about this, we just discussed some insights about breeding magical creatures,” Hagrid said gruffly: “We didn’t exactly align … in the same direction, but some of his suggestions are very helpful. ”
Harry knew that Hagrid was referring about the one in classroom seven, he suddenly thought of something and asked, “I heard that many ghosts prefer that place?”
“Yes, I did see quite a few.” Hagrid said, “I heard they are planning to ask Headmaster Dumbledore to find a memory of a person who loves to eat and cook, quite unreliable … but, they are much more active than in previous decades.”
“Do they have anyone in mind?” Ron asked, as usual, he got intrigued by these oddities.
“There is one,” Hagrid muttered, “Horace Slughorn, the Fat Friar, was impressed with him, saying that he would sneak into the kitchens for a snack every night when he was at school without fail.”
Harry knew the Fat Friar, the ghost of Hufflepuff House, but who this Slughorn is he didn’t know.
“Is he that Potions Master?” Hermione asked in surprise.
“You know him?” Hagrid gave her a look: “Quite an interesting man, he was here when I was at school, he was the head of Slytherin House, Sirius must know him.”
They looked over towards Sirius, who is sitting on the couch cuddling with Fang in his arms, as he scratched Fang’s chin with one hand, making him grunt with comfort. Then he said slowly, “Of course, I know him, an old man who likes to enjoy himself, he formed the famous Slug Club, which brought a bunch of Death Eaters together-”
“What?!” Harry exclaimed in surprise.
“Oh, don’t worry, he’s got nothing to do with Death Eaters.” Sirius said, and then he noticed that the expression on Harry’s face remained very stiffly frozen, so he continued to explain, “He’s just an old man who loves mead, candied pineapple, and triple padded couches …” He glanced at Felix and said, “I bet he’s got his eye on your company’s product, I saw a chair when I went to see Remus, that’s what he loves.”
Speaking of chairs, Hagrid’s expression rose abnormally, his eyes wandering as he glanced at a toolbox in the corner, a red umbrella placed next to the toolbox.
“… he has a common Slytherin disease; like to pull connections everywhere, love of vanity, do not have much regard for people without potential… Of course, he is much better than the current Slytherin Head.”
Felix gave him a reproachful look.
Sirius spread his hands, “I’m being honest here, well, let’s ignore a certain unpleasant Bat spirit,” he continued, “Besides the fact that he likes to enjoy material things, he has a magical knack for always noticing students who have great potential, and he has created a platform for these people to communicate with each other, with the expectation of being rewarded sometime in the future, and he likes that feeling for sure.”
“And the Death Eaters-” Harry pressed.
“As I said, besides their aptitude, he also values their origins, and you should know what most of Slytherin is all about.” Sirius said, “Not many people can truly enter the club with their abilities alone, but Harry, your mother was considered as an exception to that rule.”
“My mom?” Harry looked shocked again, he didn’t know why he was in a hurry to retort, but he did, “But, but she’s a Gryffindor!”
“She got in based on her ability.” Sirius said, “Lily’s talent for potions was very high, and the potions she brewed saved a lot of people during the war days, especially when we were being hunted by Voldemort, when all of us had to hide in our safe house because of our injuries, she alone remained active as she brewed potions even with the injury.”
His tone lowered, “If she and James had survived, Lily definitely would have become the most dazzling master of potions. What is Snape …”
Sirius grunted twice, with contempt overflowing in his voice.
“What about you guys?” Harry asked, desperate for more information, not about that Professor Slughorn, but about Sirius and his own parents.
“Me and James?”
“And Professor Lupin.” Harry said, “I mean, Remus.”
Sirius smiled, “I was, well … more rebellious,” he winked at Harry, “I couldn’t stand the way he was treating people, especially when Regulus joined that club later on, I wanted nothing to do with them, James was more or less in the same situation as I was, but he hated it more because there were too many Slytherin there, and he was very hostile to Slytherin …”
“As for Remus, he was good at his studies, but you know, his identity is a big problem.”
“But I heard that his identity was kept secret and not many people found out he was a werewolf during the school year.” Harry asked in disbelief.
” Then I can state the obvious,” Felix said, “You just couldn’t hope to hide something like this from a wizard with great magical powers, especially when he also happens to be a Potions Master.”
…
The next week flew by, and after the holidays granted to employees of ”Future World” ended, Felix moved to Diagon Alley to spend his last few days working on new product improvements, and before he knew it, the new semester at Hogwarts had begun.
————
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