A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Harry, Ron, and Hermione shakily lifted the Invisibility Cloak.

The three stepped forward, their faces contorted with grief, "Professor..."

Felix's gaze swept over the three of them. "Miss Granger, and Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, could you tell me why you're here?"

Harry mustered his courage and said, "Professor, we...we want to visit Hagrid. You may not know, but we're friends with him."

"This isn't on the way; you've gone too far into the Forbidden Forest." Felix shook his head. "I think your professors must have told you not to trespass into the Forbidden Forest."

Ron stammered, "Professor, we were originally looking for Hagrid, but we saw you by chance and, out of curiosity, we followed you."

"Just out of curiosity," Felix said, fiddling with his wand as he looked at the three of them without speaking.

Immense psychological pressure fell on the three of them.

Finally, Hermione said with a sob in her voice, "I'm sorry, Professor, we have let you down—"

“It’s nothing,” Felix said calmly. “Adventure is in the nature of every young wizard, especially Gryffindor students. But I hope you can distinguish between courage and foolishness, and remember, life is only once.”

Felix said nothing more and led the three back to the castle.

"Let me think... violating curfew, trespassing into the forbidden forest, stalking the professor..." As Felix spoke, the three men's faces turned pale. "Ten points deducted from each of you, and a week of confinement."

The trio returned to the common lounge as if they were sleepwalking.

Seeing Hermione's upset expression, Ron comforted her, "It's nothing, it's even better than I imagined. I originally thought we'd each lose fifty points and be locked up until Christmas."

Harry nodded in agreement. If they fell into Snape's hands tonight, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Lying in bed, Ron suddenly said to Harry, "That's so cool, isn't it?"

"What?"

"Professor Hyp, whoosh! You can't even see his movements. If you ask me, he's definitely much stronger than Snape, even stronger than Dumbledore!"

"Headmaster Dumbledore is the strongest," Harry said without hesitation.

"That's not necessarily true. The headmaster hasn't made a move in many years. If it were decades ago, I certainly wouldn't have suspected anything..." Ron muttered to himself before drifting off to sleep.

Harry, however, couldn't sleep. Images of Professor Hyp casting spells kept flashing through his mind, from the first spell Professor Hyp cast to his sudden appearance as black smoke. Every action was broken down and replayed in his mind.

He saw clearly.

The next day, Hermione was still a little sad, but she quickly cheered up and even started discussing the clues to the secret room with them.

The little witch said with a stern face, "It seems that Professor Hyp is not the heir to Slytherin."

Ron said, "Don't be so hasty. We've only temporarily dispelled one doubt, although Professor Hyp is indeed a good person." He also admitted this.

Harry quickly changed the subject, feeling that their actions of following the professor last night made Hermione, as his assistant, feel somewhat ashamed.

"I think Malfoy is more likely."

"That's right," Ron replied.

"But how do we get information out of him? He won't just openly admit that he's the heir to Slytherin."

Hermione nodded and whispered, "Perhaps we need Polyjuice Potion."

"What is it?"

"A compound decoction can turn you into someone else," Hermione explained to them.

The two of them still looked bewildered.

Hermione said somewhat angrily, "Don't you all listen to the lesson? Snape mentioned in class that the process of making this potion is very difficult and requires many precious ingredients. Its recipe is recorded in the book 'Potions of Power'."

The three of them discussed in hushed tones.

But then they got stuck on the first step.

The formula for the compound decoction was hard to obtain because the book containing it, "The Powerful Potion," was in the restricted section of the library.

There is only one way to borrow books from the restricted area: obtain a note personally signed by a professor.

“We have no reason to borrow that book,” Ron said. “It’s not something our age should be touching.”

"I think," Hermione said, "that if we pretend to be interested in the theory, maybe there'll be some hope..."

"Oh, come on, the professors won't fall for that so easily," Ron said, "unless they're incredibly stupid..."

Saturday morning.

After breakfast, the trio went to the ancient rune professor's office to complete their solitary confinement.

Harry lamented that the first Quidditch match was about to begin, but he couldn't participate in training, much to the displeasure of Quidditch captain Wood.

When they knocked on the door, the three were surprised to see Draco Malfoy there as well.

Malfoy was hunched over a table, a thick book in front of him, the last dozen or so pages turned. He was writing furiously with his quill pen, a drop of ink still clinging to the tip of his nose.

Harry suddenly remembered that Malfoy had been punished by copying books.

Professor Hyp closed the door and said in a relaxed tone, "I originally intended to separate you, but after thinking about it, it was too much trouble. I asked around, and Mr. Malfoy doesn't mind sharing the same table with you."

Ron suddenly chuckled. Judging from Malfoy's expression, he didn't seem to mind. He started to look forward to this confinement.

Felix conjured three chairs and placed them in front of them. "I'm going to find the materials you need to copy," he said, and then he left.

The four people in the office stared at each other blankly.

Harry joked, "Malfoy, your detention isn't over yet? That's no small price to pay."

Malfoy tilted his head back. "Harry Potter!" He glanced at the three of them, and when he saw Hermione, he seemed to want to say something, but he quickly held back.

He said with a touch of arrogance, "At Professor Snape's suggestion, Professor Hyp has allowed me to take a leave of absence so that I won't miss Slytherin's Quidditch practice. Potter! I'll beat you on the field!"

Harry's mood suddenly soured. With the financial backing of the Malfoy family, the entire Slytherin Quidditch team had switched to Nimbus 2001 brooms, which made them extremely fast, like seven pale green shadows on the pitch.

Ron taunted, "A real game is all about skill. Even if you get the ball through backdoors, you'll only become a laughingstock and a spendthrift!"

"Shut up, Weasley. Do you even have a single Galleon left in your vault?"

Ron's face flushed red, even his ears burned, and he pulled out his wand, yelling, "Say it again! Malfoy, say it again!"

Harry and Hermione quickly pulled him back. Putting aside the consequences of fighting in the professor's office, even if Ron did it, what would happen if he threw up slugs all afternoon?

Felix returned carrying a thick stack of parchment. Harry and Ron, seeing the stack of materials that was over a foot high, lost all interest in arguing.

"I asked Professor McGonagall, and she had a batch of materials that were too outdated and needed updating, so I volunteered to take on the task," Felix said with a slightly lively tone. "It just so happens to be related to your behavior—the student blacklist and its punishments."

Felix placed the materials on the table with a "bang," kicking up a thick cloud of dust. He waved his wand, "Clean Up," and a gust of wind swept the dust away. "Let's begin, children."

Felix sat in a corner of the office, seven or eight meters away from them. "Turn your ears and plug your ears," he said, pointing to himself with his wand. Then he opened a thick book and began to enjoy his leisurely weekend.

On the other side, Harry, Ron, and Hermione resignedly sat down. Ron strongly resisted sitting with Malfoy, so Harry had no choice but to sit next to him.

Harry opened a piece of parchment and began copying information using a quill pen dipped in ink.

Malfoy whispered, "Potter! You know you're going to lose..."

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Harry hissed softly.