A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Through a message from a somewhat talkative man named Chagus Gaunt, Felix determined that the ancient book came from a family called "Gaunt," or at least that they had possessed it for a long time.

Because the later notes are full of praise for this great-grandfather.

And it wasn't just one.

This made reading the comments enjoyable for Felix.

The rune artifact that Felix was preparing to complete also came from this ancient book. It is called a "rune artifact" rather than an "alchemy artifact" because its internal circuits are entirely constructed from individual runes, without any trace of later alchemy.

Many people cannot discern this, but Felix is ​​an exception—runes can be used in ancient magic and inscribed on objects because it is a language, a magical language.

Its essence is the exploration and summarization of magic by ancient wizards.

Alchemy, on the other hand, partially inherited ancient runes and developed on its own. Its purpose is to "leave magic on objects and give them special magical functions."

Therefore, the symbols used in alchemy cannot be called language, but are merely magical symbols.

However, it also has its advantages. In order to leave magic on various items, many great wizards have tried various methods, leaving behind many incredible enchanting techniques.

The French alchemist Nicolas Lemaître was a master in this field.

Compared to alchemy, rune-crafting is considered "ancient." This is one of the reasons why he believes the notebook is quite old.

……

Felix wanted to create a magical artifact called "Binding Vine," which utilizes the extension and growth characteristics of magical vines to launch surprise attacks. Its advantages are that it does not require incantation and its activation is stable and undisturbed.

But as for how powerful it really is, opinions will vary, and Felix certainly has his doubts.

But he didn't value power; what he valued were the ideas contained within: first, the design philosophy behind magical artifacts; and second, the techniques for deeply integrating opposing magical properties.

Unicorns represent purity and kindness;

The Devil's Web is an extremely aggressive magical plant that always attacks various small animals and unfortunate humans; hunting is its instinct.

Under normal circumstances, the magical properties of these two are difficult to combine. Felix, following the approach in the ancient books, used the Mantis Willow to neutralize this opposition—although the Mantis Willow is violent, it is actually a neutral plant.

Felix waved his wand, scattering the mat woven from unicorn hair and soaking it in clear water. Almost instantly, the water turned pitch black.

Felix: "..."

He changed the water several times before finally cleaning the unicorn fur, and then dried it with magic.

Only then did the unicorn fur reveal its true form: long, smooth, white fur spread out freely, its warm light flowing continuously, as if it were a solidified mercury creation.

The other two main materials require time to grow. The Devil's Net needs to grow a bit more, and the Willow Branch needs to be imbued with magic to make it more flexible before it can be easily modified.

Felix estimates that preparations will not be completed until at least the end of November.

However, I can consider in advance how to optimize the magic rune loop...

As the days went by, Felix completed the first large-scale standardized test across all five grades—a test he had promised to take at the start of the school year.

The weekend before Halloween, he was still busy grading papers.

Fortunately, he wasn't alone; he had another assistant working overtime with him.

It's 10 p.m.

Hermione covered her mouth and yawned, then secretly glanced at Professor Hyp.

"Professor, I've finished grading."

Felix looked up. "I still have some. You go back now. Have a good Halloween party."

Hermione said goodnight and left the office. Walking along the street, she felt a sense of anticipation for three days later. However, she wasn't going to attend the school's party, but rather the 500th anniversary of the death of the Gryffindor ghost, "Nearly Headless Nick."

Back in the common room, many of the young Gryffindor wizards were still catching up on their homework.

Ron let out a wail; his Potions paper was eight inches short and his History of Magic paper was a foot short.

"Why is there so much homework before Halloween?!"

Ron voiced the sentiments of many young wizards, who nodded in agreement and then continued working on their homework.

Hermione sat down next to Harry and Ron and said bluntly, "If you had finished your homework earlier, there wouldn't have been so much trouble."

She's much busier than the others. Besides her homework, she not only has to fulfill her duties as an ancient rune assistant, but also practice the runes taught by Professor Hyp. So far, she has mastered 19 runes.

Professor Haip said she has the opportunity to complete a gold-plated item independently this year.

Ron grimaced. "Stop nagging and just lend me your paper on the history of magic."

You need to do your homework yourself!

"I'm just using it as a reference, right, Harry?"

Harry nodded quickly.

In the end, Hermione lent them the homework.

Over the next two days, the festive atmosphere on campus grew stronger. Although it was pouring rain outside and the sky was as black as ink, the room was bright and cheerful.

Professor Flitwick decorated the Great Hall with live bats, Professor McGonagall transformed into huge, colorful decorations, and Hagrid's giant pumpkins finally found their purpose, being carved into openwork lanterns large enough to seat three to five people.

Rumors circulated on campus that Dumbledore had booked a skeleton dance troupe to entertain the festival.

Everyone is looking forward to the Halloween party.

Only Harry and Ron were unhappy because Harry couldn't refuse to attend the 500th anniversary of Nick Fury's death, while Ron stood by his brother and accompanied him.

But the more they saw the decorated auditorium, the more bitter their smiles became.

This bitterness finally reached its peak on Halloween afternoon.

At seven o'clock, the three of them walked straight through the doorway, heading to the banquet. As they passed the hall, it was brightly lit and flickering with candlelight. The enormous pumpkin lanterns were each as big as a carriage, and some young wizards had already chosen their seats, chatting and laughing.

As Harry squeezed through the crowd, he even saw one of the twins directing a ghost doll to chase after one young wizard after another, spewing black smoke into their faces, while the magical puppet made a "creaking" ghostly sound.

Just the day before, Felix released the results and kept his promise: the top student in each grade received a custom-made magical puppet, which was more powerful and contained more "moves".

The fourth-grade winner wasn't one of the twins, but Cedric from Hufflepuff—who had consistently held the top spot. However, when choosing his prize, he was tricked by the twins into choosing the haunted doll.

He was sitting with his friends, but his gaze was fixed on a third-year Ravenclaw girl. He suddenly felt a pang of regret; if only he had chosen a prettier girl and given it to this one…

Cedric's mind was in turmoil, while the path beneath Harry and his friends' feet was winding and twisting. They descended towards the basement, the sounds of laughter behind them growing fainter and fainter, mirroring their own mood at that moment.

After walking through a cold corridor filled with black candles, they saw "almost headless" Nick standing at the door of a room to greet the guests. He was dressed up today, wearing a black velvet drape.

"Welcome, my dear friends, it's so wonderful that you could come..."

Almost at the same time, Dumbledore also announced the official start of the Halloween party, and cheers from the young wizards echoed throughout the Great Hall.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances. In the dim candlelight, their faces looked sinister. The three of them walked inside with a death wish.