A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

For the next two days, the campus remained calm, but undercurrents were stirring beneath the surface.

Rita Skeeter focused all her firepower on Lockhart, and after many years, the two once again engaged in a war of words in the newspapers.

They are both renowned authors with huge readership, which is why their news is currently the hottest topic.

In the scraps of newspaper, questions began to appear about Dumbledore's inability to handle the Chamber of Secrets attack, and Felix sensed a conspiracy.

Recalling Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall's conversation in the Chamber of Secrets, he roughly realized what was going on.

It was nothing more than a propaganda campaign launched by some pure-blood families, hoping to use it to bring down Dumbledore. But it was all in vain; the Basilisk was already dead, they just hadn't revealed it.

Dumbledore wanted to go fishing to solve his problem once and for all, so let him be; Felix wasn't interested.

In the last class before the holiday, he took the parchment given to him by Professor McGonagall and read from it aloud some important notes.

"Don't perform spells outside of school, and don't bring teaching aids home. You know what I mean."

The young wizards below laughed.

At noon, when Felix entered the auditorium, he was surprised to see Lockhart standing at the door. He was about to pretend he didn't see him when Lockhart grabbed his arm.

"Professor Lockhart?" He had to stop in his tracks.

Lockhart said to him uneasily, "Professor Hyp, we need to talk."

The two walked into a dark corner in front of the foyer.

"Professor Hyp, you have to help me, for the sake of our colleagues! That woman Skeeter is driving me crazy!"

Felix asked curiously, "What happened?"

"That woman is spreading wild rumors in the newspapers, desperately trying to ruin my reputation. She actually slandered me, saying that all my adventures were fake! Good heavens! What a ridiculous statement!"

Felix looked at him with a strange expression.

"Yeah, you think it's ridiculous too, right? You can't doubt me just because I have a good appearance. I'm not some kind of ghost who can exorcise Wanlun with a smile!" He cleared his throat irritably.

"Professor Lockhart," Felix interrupted him, "please state your purpose directly."

"Oh, ah... okay, it's like this—" His tone became hesitant, "I think my argument with that woman doesn't need to waste public resources. Perhaps we can communicate privately... and resolve it through negotiation..."

"But what does that have to do with me?"

"Come on, Professor Hyp. I know that woman. She won't let you off easily. In her eyes, you're perfect juicy material!" Lockhart said shrewdly. "If you ask me, who's the big shot you got in touch with...?"

Felix thought to himself, "You're really something, to be able to make that connection."

He declined, saying, "I don't know her very well, but I overheard Headmaster Dumbledore mention that the school announces a big news story around the holidays and invites some reporters to attend. Maybe she will come too."

"Really?" Lockhart's eyes lit up. "I need to speak with Dumbledore... Thank you very much, Professor Hyp. If you need anything in the future, feel free to come to me. I've heard you're knowledgeable about ancient magic, and I happen to know some of that."

"We'll see," Felix said listlessly.

Lockhart paid no attention to his attitude; he cheerfully took his leave, seemingly heading straight to find Dumbledore.

"By the way, Professor Lockhart, I heard that your wand..." He wanted to know if Dumbledore had cleaned off the smell when handing over the wand.

He was very curious about this.

"Oh dear, you found out too, didn't you? That's really outrageous behavior. If you ask me, a month of solitary confinement would be too lenient... that reckless Weatherby."

Meanwhile, Ron stormed back to the common room.

"You shouldn't have stopped me, Harry—" Ron said, having just had another argument with Percy.

Harry felt uneasy. They had solved the problem of the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, but at Dumbledore's request, they had to wait a few days and postpone the announcement of this honor until the start of the new term.

This meant that his situation did not improve much; in fact, Ron was still under house arrest.

However, Harry still tried to reassure Ron, saying, "Try to look on the bright side. If everything goes well, we can get Malfoy punished after Christmas, and then we can solve all the problems at once!"

His words made Ron feel better. "You're right, I really hope Christmas comes soon."

Then, beaming with excitement, he said, "Harry, that's a special contribution award! No one in our family has ever received one, not even Bill! When I get the trophy, I'm going to smash it in Percy's face."

On the other side of the table, Hermione kept writing and drawing on parchment, not participating in their discussion.

"Hermione, what are you doing?"

Hermione looked up from the parchment and sighed. "I'm planning a makeover for the beaded pouch, and oh, it's so difficult."

Harry asked her with great interest, "Is it that little bag that releases the Devil Vines?"

"That's right, the basilisk caused some damage to it in the secret chamber. I asked Professor Hyp for permission to do the repairs independently. But it's much more troublesome than I imagined, even though I watched the professor do it from start to finish..."

Harry couldn't help but ask a few more questions, and the little witch enthusiastically explained the basic concepts of ancient runes to the two of them, leaving Harry and Ron feeling dizzy and confused. The two tacitly changed the subject.

In the evening, Felix took out his diary and started writing and drawing in it again.

"Hagrid has been taken away, and I don't know if I did the right thing," Felix wrote, which was obviously a lie, as he had gone through the Christmas presents he had prepared that afternoon, including Hagrid's.

A string of flamboyant handwriting appeared in the diary: "You are doing the right thing. Believe me, the attacks will definitely stop, and you are the greatest contributor."

Felix remained unmoved, stating, "I won't easily believe what you say; I'll always be on my guard!"

"Of course, if another attack occurs, you can simply hand me over," the diary entry reads.

Felix then changed the subject, "I'm very curious, how were you created? You know, your container is just an ordinary notebook, but it carries a memory that has lasted for half a century!"

The diary wasn't averse to this question; on the contrary, it welcomed it. "Let's talk, open your heart to me..."

A string of fluent text rapidly scrolled across the page: "It involves very profound magic. If you're interested, I'll tell you everything I know."

Thus, the exchange began in a harmonious and friendly atmosphere, with each person keeping a diary.

At first, they discussed relatively superficial topics, but after Felix pointed out his mistakes several times, the diary had to reveal more advanced content. However, he was quite cunning and claimed that he "did not inject this information back then" on many key points.

That night, Felix acquired some skills in storing memories on ordinary objects, and some rudimentary knowledge of bloodline research.

At the end of the conversation, the diary strongly recommended a "technique for relaxing the mind," which he confidently asserted had a magical amplifying effect...

After locking the diary, Felix couldn't help but mutter to himself, "I don't believe you for a second."