A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

On Monday morning, the young wizards were passing by the bulletin board when they suddenly noticed that the content had been updated.

A young wizard read aloud what was pinned to the parchment—

"The second dueling class of this semester is scheduled for this Thursday at 8 p.m. All wizards of all grades are welcome to attend."

The signature is an elegant name: Felix Heap.

"Why is it Professor Heap? Isn't it Lockhart?"

"Perhaps Professor Hyp snatched the Duel Club from him?"

"That's big news!"

"Don't talk nonsense. It could be a collaboration, just like Snape in the last class. He was invited by Lockhart."

The young wizards were buzzing with discussion under the bulletin board.

The trio stood not far away, Harry looking very excited: "It's finally going to start."

Ron was also full of anticipation: "I hope to learn a few powerful spells. To be honest, I've been feeling nauseous this week..."

Harry looked at him with pity. "He even made you copy fan mail?"

"Yeah, it never ends." Ron looked disgusted. "Especially a woman named Moria. She writes the most, and is Lockhart's favorite. I can recite some of the whole letters from memory..."

"No!" Harry quickly stopped him.

Ron muttered, "I've heard a lot of secrets from him these past few days, Hermione. I know him better than you do now."

"But that shouldn't be happening, why would he do that?" Hermione asked, puzzled.

"I think maybe he's given up on himself? He writes an apology letter to Fudge every night now," Ron guessed, noting that Cornelius Fudge hadn't responded to him in days.

……

When Harry, Ron, and his friends arrived at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Lockhart stood in the doorway, looking thoughtful. As they passed by, he grabbed Ron's arm. "You know," he said, "have I changed a lot lately?"

A flicker of horror crossed Ron's eyes, and he stammered, "No, I didn't notice, Professor."

"Hmm... something doesn't feel right?" Lockhart asked in confusion as he released his grip, and the trio slipped past him into the classroom.

On the seat—

Harry said, "He realized something was wrong himself; there was definitely something wrong here."

"Perhaps it's a Confusion Charm? Many spells have similar effects," Hermione analyzed seriously.

"It's possible that every time I'm alone with him, I want to curse him." Ron said with a resentful look.

"By the way, do you have any clue about those three parchments?" Harry suddenly remembered something and asked Ron.

"No, it was just a regular interview."

"What is it?" Herman asked with interest.

Ron gave a brief explanation of their origins, and she wanted to ask more questions, but class started soon afterward.

During Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Lockhart was still giving his teaching demonstration. "I need to choose a volunteer. Today's story is the most crucial and exciting part."

The young wizards all lowered their heads.

"Ron Weasley, it's you!" Lockhart called Ron to the stage. Thanks to his confinement last week, he finally didn't mispronounce the name this time.

"That's right, Ron. You're an innocent villager, tormented by werewolves, and you're begging for my help. Yes! Make your expression more bitter, very good..."

Ron, with a pained expression, served as a prop in Lockhart's story.

"What follows is my inner monologue, and this part is very important, so listen carefully."

Lockhart shook his head, adopting a patriotic posture, and said in a drawn-out voice, "Poor people! They face the constant threat of werewolves, all because they killed a wolf cub that had attacked livestock. What did they do wrong! It's truly pathetic, lamentable... My conscience cannot allow me to ignore this!"

The performance continued, Lockhart standing tall, seemingly facing the villagers' praise. But Ron's face suddenly turned deathly pale.

Even after he returned to his seat, he had a dejected expression on his face.

"What's wrong with you?" Ha nudged him with her arm. Was he too shocked? It's not like he's never been before; he even played a vampire for three weeks straight.

"We'll talk about it later, we'll talk about it later." Ron curled up into a ball, avoiding Lockhart's gaze.

Meanwhile, Felix was giving a lesson to a fourth-grade wizard.

"Today we will learn the last set of practical runes. Then your magical golems will be able to unleash their full power."

The twins in the audience raised their hands: "Professor Hyp, do you have any advanced knowledge?"

Felix smiled. "What do you want to learn?"

"For example—open up other useful runes," Fred said.

Felix blinked, looking at the twins; they seemed to be promising candidates for ancient runes.

You can tell from the Christmas gifts the twins gave him; of course, they weren't using magic runes, but rather alchemical thinking.

"If some of you have the capacity to learn, I would certainly be willing to teach you more," Felix promised.

After class, Felix called the twins over.

"I'd like to know if you have a clear plan for your future?" Felix asked.

"We want to open a Weasley's Magical Tricks workshop!" they both said in unison.

"Hmm...like a joke shop like the one by Joko Widodo?" Felix asked.

"Pretty much... but Joko's thinking is still stuck in the last century. We want to do something newer and more interesting," Fred said.

"Yes! We have many good ideas, but due to limitations in our capabilities, we can't build most of them." George's expression was quite regretful.

"Great plan. But I imagine you don't have any professional guidance?" Felix asked.

"Well, when we were kids, we found some books at home about how to make gadgets and jokes, and we also did a lot of research in the library. It helped us a lot, Professor Hyp," Fred said with a sly look.

The library? Or the restricted section? Felix didn't say anything; the twins were quite famous among the professors.

He simply extended an invitation: "Next year, I will be starting my own Ancient Rune Club. Are you interested?"

The twins exchanged a surprised look. "Of course, Professor!"

George suggested, "Professor, why don't you start your Ancient Runes Club earlier?"

Felix shook his head regretfully. "There's less than half a year left in this school year, and I've been distracted by various things, so I have to postpone it until next year."

"However, you can come to me if you have any questions," Felix said.