A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Seeing Felix's thoughtful expression, Flitwick explained, "Slughorn is the former headmaster of Slytherin House, and like Severus, he taught Potions."

Felix nodded. He had no connection with this potions master; he had only heard of him but couldn't immediately place him.

Flitwick said, "It is said that he enjoys his retirement life very much, which is to be expected, as he had very high standards of quality of life when he was teaching at Hogwarts."

"Professor Flitwick—"

"Felix, you can call me by my name," Professor Flitwick waved his hand. "We're colleagues now, aren't we?"

"Well... alright, Felix," Felix said.

"Me too, Felix, we don't need to be so polite in private," Professor McGonagall said.

So Felix said to her, "Minerva." The Transfiguration professor smiled kindly at him.

Then he turned to look at Snape, who stared back at him expressionlessly, his eyes as if he were looking at a stone.

But Felix knew him best, and he drawled, "Ah, Severus..."

Snape's lips trembled with anger.

Flitwick suddenly became interested in the view outside the window, while Professor McGonagall looked around the interior decorations with great interest.

Their eyes were filled with smiles.

The awkward atmosphere didn't last long, and a woman with a slender figure and beautiful face walked over.

"A small cup of canyon water—"

"Mine," Professor McGonagall's voice said.

"A serving of sherry juice soda with ice and whelks—"

"Hmm! Thank you, Rosmerta," Professor Flitwick said, smacking his lips.

"A glass of water—"

Snape silently took it.

Ms. Rosmerta looked at the newly arrived Felix. "What would you like, sir? Oh wait, you're Felix Heap?"

Felix looked at her with a puzzled expression.

He did come to "Three Brooms" when he was in school, but apart from ordering drinks, he never spoke to her.

Rosmerta looked at him: "Mr. Hyp, you have no idea how famous you were back in school. Lots of people sat here discussing your exploits..."

Felix joked, "I guess it wasn't anything nice?"

"No, many people admire you." She didn't elaborate, but instead gave a slight smile. "Besides, a good reputation and a bad reputation are inseparable friends—inviting one over almost always means inviting the other along. What would you like some drinks?"

"A butterbeer, I still prefer this."

Flitwick extended an invitation, "Why don't you have a drink too, ma'am, and sit with us?"

Rosmerta glanced at the few scattered tables of customers in the tavern. "Okay, thank you."

A little while later, she returned and handed Felix a glass of butterbeer.

Rosmerta sat in the empty seat next to him, a glass of gin in front of her.

The woman, a smooth talker, took a few sips of her drink and then a nostalgic expression crossed her face: "Over the years of running this tavern, my greatest pleasure has been listening to the conversations of my customers. Of course, not eavesdropping; in this kind of setting, they won't be sharing any secrets..."

"We understand what you mean."

"Yes, young wizards come and go, only the most outstanding ones leave their mark and become memorable. Let me think, the most famous in recent years is definitely Mr. Hyp, but there are actually some others..."

Rosmerta said a name: "Bill Weasley, shouldn't he be in the same year as you?" She looked at Felix.

"That's right."

"I remember he got twelve A's in the OWLs exams, which was quite a spectacle at the time," Rosmerta said. "And his brother, who I believe was the captain of the Quidditch team, later went off to raise dragons."

Professor McGonagall, her face stern, remained unconvinced: "He should join the national team; Charlie has the potential."

“But that’s not what he wanted, Minerva,” Flitwick said. “As professors, we should be proud of him.”

"I do—" McGonagall blushed and stammered, "I just feel it's a pity that the national team hasn't had many good prospects in recent years."

She has always been a huge Quidditch fan.

"There's also a little girl named Tonks, whose disguise as Magus is quite distinctive," Rosmerta said. "Come to think of it, many of them are Gryffindor wizards."

Flitwick said somewhat awkwardly, "Actually, Tonks is from Hufflepuff, but I should say... Ravenclaw also has many outstanding graduates."

Rosmerta blinked. "Of course. They are active in all walks of life and are undoubtedly among the best."

Snape snorted. "Mrs. Rosmerta, I must remind you that Slytherin has the fewest members, yet they have won the most House Cups."

"Severus! Last year's House Cup belonged to Gryffindor, and it's highly likely to be this year too—" Professor McGonagall retorted, unconvinced.

Snape gave a low snort.

Seeing that the deans were about to start arguing, Rosmerta quickly said, "It's true that every college has many excellent students. By the way, what were you talking about just now?"

Flitwick tried to smooth things over, saying, "We were talking about Damocles Belby, Severus. You should have seen the recipe for the wolfsbane potion, right?"

"I see it. It's a clever design, but I don't think researching this kind of potion is of any use."

"At least the werewolf problem is solved, isn't it?"

"From a political standpoint—that's true, it fills a void." Snape gave his usual sarcastic look. "But unless the price of the potion drops below seven Galleons, a chain will do the trick."

In the wizarding world, werewolves are basically synonymous with poverty, and no one wants to hire them. So werewolves either live in seclusion or associate with evil.

In other words, at the current cost, not many werewolves can afford it.

"As it stands, the wolfsbane potion can only alleviate the pain of the full moon transformation and keep the werewolf sane, but it cannot cure the werewolf. Moreover, the cost is indeed not low," Felix said, adding that he learned this from his communications with Damocles.

Professor McGonagall clicked her tongue. "But it's not bad either. If back then—" She glanced at Snape and stopped herself.

She thought of her former student, Remus Lupin, who was also a werewolf, but Lupin and Snape had a terrible relationship.

Although Rosmerta was curious, she wisely did not ask any further questions. The conversation continued, and after a while, she got up to greet the other guests.

For the next period of time, the professors discussed their respective teaching methods.

Felix, speaking about the recently concluded dueling course, expressed his disappointment with the overall level of the young wizards. He said, "The Disarm Charm isn't actually that difficult, but very few people have mastered it."

After questioning him in detail, Flitwick offered a different perspective.

"Felix, they probably just don't understand the concept of fighting. If you ask me, any random upperclassman would know more evil curses than you'd expect."

Felix paused, this was a point he hadn't considered before. When he was in school, he had absolutely no interest in useless little curses.

"You mean they don't know the disarming spell because they don't know it?"

"Or rather, they don't value it. After all, the effect of this spell doesn't please the young wizards." Flitwick, an experienced spells professor, understood the mindset of young wizards very well: "Only those exaggerated, hilarious little curses are their favorites."

Flitwick counted on his fingers, "Tripping curse, bump curse, tickling curse, front teeth like a big stick, slug curse... there are too many. Although the school forbids them, these spells have been passed down from generation to generation among the young wizards."

Felix said knowingly, "Perhaps I should tell the young wizard the difference between dueling magic and minor curses. Severus, what do you think?"

Snape didn't speak, but that meant he agreed.

Then, Flitwick asked Felix if he could join the next dueling class.

"I was a dueling champion when I was young," he said somewhat shyly. "Don't worry, it's just for one lesson. I just want to share my experience with the young wizards."

Felix looked at Flitwick and said cheerfully, "Of course, Felix."

Professor McGonagall couldn't help but chime in, "If you don't mind, Felix, I'd also like to demonstrate to the young wizards how Transfiguration can be used in duels."