Chapter 556

“Nothing to do with you.” Mafalda said with a stubborn scowl.

“Well,” Harry quipped accusingly, “what story are you going to make up again? Harry Potter’s secret army? Or Hermione Granger’s ambitious recruitment of an army of house elves, with the determination to overthrow the Ministry of Magic?”

“Sounds great.” Mafalda said, filling out the registration form as quickly as she could, “By the way, your costumes look UGLY, you look like a pair of mummies …”

“Don’t concern yourself with us.” Ron said angrily. “I’m warning you, stop bossing us around and quit making up stuff about Harry or I’ll deduce some points from your house, I’m telling you! Don’t think I’ll let you get away with it just because you’re related to me-”

Hermione tapped on Ron’s back wither her finger and Ron paused uneasily, as he muttered reluctantly, “I’m doing her a favour, she has certainly crossed the line …”

At that moment a sarcastic voice interjected, “It doesn’t seem like your family name is earning you that much of a brownie point, does it? It was simply a pointless attempt.”

“What are you trying to say?” Mafalda clenched her fists and glared at Draco Malfoy.

“Prewett,” Draco stated softly, his grey eyes fixed on Mafalda as her whole body tensed, “you claim to be from a distant offshoot of the Prewett family, but as far as I know, the last few descendants of the Prewett are few in number and have no children of school age… …”

Mafalda’s eyes flinched as she averted her eyes a little as her body trembled a bit.

“Malfoy, you haven’t changed a bit, all you can do is bully a little girl.” Harry couldn’t bear to look away and chimed in to help, but as soon as the words left his mouth he regretted it a little, why the heck did he bother to interject between them, since he hated both of them quite a bit.

Draco’s expression stiffened, “Just telling the facts.”

Mafalda calmed down as she wisely changed the subject, “Where’s your girlfriend, Malfoy? She literally can’t take her eyes off your pointy chin for a moment, oh my goodness, it’s been almost five minutes, she’s not going to faint, is she?”

Draco slowly said, “You mean Pansy? She’s gone to perform her duties as a prefect.”

“I don’t think so.” Mafalda said with a sly, and snarky tone, “I just saw her trying to confiscate a butterbeer bottle from a student, when it fell to the ground and suddenly exploded and lit her pretty dress on fire, oh, she’s out of luck …” and with that, she turned and ran off.

Draco narrowed his eyes and then fixed his gaze on Harry, “So you’re once again famous, Potter?” His head tilted to the side and Harry knew the ‘Harry Potter Fan Club’ was exactly in that direction.

“Yeah,” Harry said woodenly, he knew Malfoy wouldn’t miss the chance to taunt him, he had thought it would change for good after he promised Malfoy to keep the diary thing a secret a while back.

“Your fame is always going up, without stopping a single moment, and I’m actually quite bitter about it.”

Ron laughed out loud.

Draco sized him up twice, “If I were you, I’d go home and go through the family tree to avoid identifying a random person as my relative … Well, only if you have that kind of thing in your family.” After saying it he turned and left.

“What does he mean?” Ron frowned, as he stared at Draco’s back.

Hermione sighed, and she glanced carefully at Neville and Ginny, who were not far away from them, and kept her voice low to prevent it from spreading.

“You guys honestly don’t think Mafalda’s last name is ‘Prewett’, do you?”

“Why not-” Ron asked, and then his eyes widened.

Harry’s mind raced; Mafalda’s father is a distant cousin of Mrs. Weasley’s, and Mrs. Weasley’s surname was Prewett before she married, and that suggests something … He quickly found the template for the comparison – Dudley and him. The two of them are cousins, but one of their last names is Dursley while the other is Potter, and if Dudley ever has children in the future, his children will only have the last name Dursley, and not something different, like Potter …

It occurred to him now that Mafalda had mentioned that her father is a Squib, and Squibs are looked down upon in the wizarding world. Harry almost instantly believed that Mafalda’s father had suffered a lot of discrimination when he was a little kid, so he certainly wouldn’t want his daughter to be like him and Harry was convinced that as a father he would do something about it when he heard his daughter going to be part of a wizarding community, what would it be? Changing her family name, changing it to one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight which he distantly related to.

The dislike Harry felt for Mafalda in his heart instantly diminished, and it was replaced by sympathy.

Ron’s reaction was half a beat slower, but he too thought of what Harry had just thought of, and he opened his mouth without uttering a word, as the three of them silently stopped discussing the subject. But at that moment, it suddenly struck Harry how utterly stupid the idea of pure blood is.

Harry remembered what Nearly Headless Nick had said.

Professor Hap had never talked about his origins for a single second, but that hadn’t stopped him from becoming the banner of Slytherin House and the other houses also adored him, but Harry wondered if it was due to the fact that Professor Hap had always given fewer assignments than other professors every time …

“For some time I wanted to say, stop your nonsense and take off your ridiculous hoods and get over here to help.” Hermione said in a lecturing tone as she straightened her waist again.

Harry and Ron reluctantly showed their faces, Ron covered his face because he didn’t want to be seen when his name was written under the ‘Spew’ word while Harry just wanted to stay away from the Creevey brothers. He peeked behind him and saw that the ‘Harry Potter Fan Club’ was deserted, leaving only an empty brown curtain and table.

Was there no recruitment? Harry thought expectantly as Ginny walked over quietly, “They’re out of gifts.”

“What?” Harry asked in confusion.

“The gifts.” Ginny said calmly, “A free set of your photographs for simply joining the club, I think the shots are quite good.”

Harry stared at her, “You also didn’t-”

Ginny shrugged and admitted readily, “It’s just writing a registration form, it’s a real bargain for those who need it.”

Harry’s face suddenly felt like it was on fire, and he couldn’t speak without stammering.

“My set is under the table, you can take a look.” Ginny covered her mouth and giggled softly, “I will go over to Luna’s booth, she found a bunch of butterbeer corks somewhere and plans to make a few necklaces … ugh, I’ll have to talk her out of it.”

Harry sat down slowly leaning against the table and caught a glimpse of a large box on which he was winking playfully.

…

Felix crouched in front of a booth, where seven or eight boxes lined up horizontally in front of him, in it dolls of various shapes and sizes were stacked neatly. As he looked past the first row, the dolls appeared more primitive, the proportions of the dolls were somewhat off, and he could see hints of magical golems in them, probably the earliest work of the makers. From the second row onwards the dolls were much more refined, with many other models, including a wonderfully detailed Bowtruckles walking around in one of the boxes, and Felix could hardly find a fault with it except that its head looked a little crooked and its leaves glowed a bit. And those glowing leaves had ancient runes inscribed on them.

“You used the ‘tranquillity’ circuit?” Felix asked with interest.

“Yes, Professor.” Cedric was slightly nervous, “I adapted the elements from the twelve amulets I had seen in class to this, and it worked quite well.” With that, he pronounced a crude phonetic phrase, and one of the leaves of the Bowtruckle’s body suddenly burst with bright light, and the expressions of the few people enveloped in the halo – Felix, Cedric, and Cho Chang – all became peaceful.

“A bit strong.” Felix commented.

Cedric smiled, “I will use it occasionally when I practice my rune writing skills, it calms my restlessness.”

Felix nodded.

Cedric then introduced him to the dolls on the shelf one by one, “I made these by imitating magical golems, but there were some problems in the joint areas all the time, and the movements were not that fluid … Later on, I designed some more models that are not just limited to fighting, like this forked tail dog doll(Crup), whose sole function is rolling over.”

“It has a very vivid expression on its face.” Felix said.

“I combined a mixture of transfiguration with it,” Cedric explained, ” the magic can be sustained for a long time by using runic circuits that can store magic, which makes it more convenient than alchemy, in a sense.”

Felix thought for a moment and enquired, “Any thoughts on where you’ll work after you graduate?”

Cedric said honestly, “Not really thought about it yet.”

“What do Mr. and Mrs. Diggory think?”

“My family wants me to enter the Ministry of Magic, my father works in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures,” Cedric said, “but Collins advised me to join the Auror squad, and Fred and George, have invited me to join their magic trick workshop many times… . But I wasn’t really interested in either.”

“What about your own interest?”

Cedric looked at the dolls on the table, as his gaze became soft and absorbed.

” Well, I guess that won’t be that bad.” Felix said understandingly.

The conversation with Cedric had been very rewarding for him. He realized that it seemed that another sub-discipline of Ancient Rune had emerged, combining Ancient Runes and Transfiguration, which may later encompass areas such as alchemy and memory magic; with just a gentle push from him … Would Cedric dwell even deeper on magic golem study?

Felix had made a number of magical golems by himself, but it became apparent that he had no desire to delve deeper into the subject, so handing over this expertise to someone who would be worthy and has a passion for it would be the ideal outcome.

Felix ended the session by suggesting Cedric to check out the second to last row in the restricted section of the library, “Remember to keep this ‘Enthusiasm’ alive.” He advised before leaving.

“What did Professor Hap mean by that last statement, a simple encouragement?” Cho Chang looked at Cedric with puzzlement, it didn’t quite sound like that to her.

Cedric obviously thought so too, and after contemplating it for a few moments, he suddenly broke into an excited smile and said, “I think he meant something like this.” He raised his hand and traced a magic rune in the air, and in the next second, the magic rune was transformed into a colourful, beautiful cloud that bounced around in his palm, as if he is holding a flowing aurora borealis.

“I guess Professor Hap had left some kind of materials there, and the ‘Enthusiasm’ Rune is the key to it.” Cedric said with certainty.

“How did you reach that conclusion?” Cho Chang asked with a jubilant voice.

Cedric stammered, “I told you that Fred and George have been hiding things in the castle in various guises these days, and I know a bit of the inside information, one of the ways to open the hidden treasure spot is to recite a Latin poem in an ancient runic language in front of a suit of armour, or, of course, to whack the armour seventeen or eighteen times in the stomach… …”

Felix continued to wander around the great hall in a good mood, as he spotted many professors enjoying this experience alongside the students. The burly Hagrid and Professor Burbage, of Muggle Studies, are standing in front of a poster of a Muggle film.

Professor Burbage was talking rapidly, but Hagrid was clearly distracted, as he kept staring at the poster: an old monkey standing on a raised rock, holding a newborn lion cub up high, with hundreds of animals standing beneath the rock with their heads bent down.

In a jarring voice, Hagrid asked, “A cartoon? Is it for kids?”

The student swallowed as he answered, “Adults can watch it too, I think it’s pretty entertaining.”

“So – er,” Hagrid waved his arms, ” where can I see it? Do I need to buy a magic projector?”

“The ‘Future World’ company sells them, and Professor Hap once had screened this film in our class.” The student whispered.

” It sounds easy to get,” Hagrid muttered, “Do you have any suggestions if I want to show it to a much larger – um – creature than me? ”

“Oh, I think …” the student said with a shaky voice, as he looked terrified, “Our club doesn’t consider recruiting members of that size… …”

“Hello, Hagrid.” Felix couldn’t help but interject them.

Hagrid turned his head and said with delight, ” Great! Felix, I’ve just had a great idea, if I could only show little Grawp-” his face suddenly flushed, so much that even his wool cap and the beard on his face couldn’t hide it, “Ahem, I mean if I could show it to the big guys in the Forbidden Forest, it would be great. It would be nice, at least it would reduce their tantrums …” he muttered.

“You could write and ask Remus, I remember the company was doing tests on the new product and needed a lot of feedback.” Felix said.

Hagrid left cheerfully.

As soon as Hagrid had left, Professor Burbage made her way over.

She pulled a bulging envelope from her pocket and said with annoyance, “Professor Hap, help me pass it on to that big talker, I’ll make him come forward and admit his mistakes!”

Felix blinked, “Charity, some of his words still make sense.”

“But he is too arrogant,” Professor Burbage said with exasperation, “he’s talking like I’m some little kid who doesn’t know anything, hear what he wrote, ‘only a fool would abandon his wizardship’ and ‘If Technology can’t be used by wizards, it’s only a threat’, Professor Hap, who is your pen pal? I’d really like to have a proper chat with him in person!”

Snape, who was pretending to be passing by, stiffened and stopped in silence, as he inclined his head to survey the booth in front of him, a soft padded clad wooden stand with a grilled fish sticking out of it, the grilled fish’s eyes locked with his.

“Would you like a skewer, Professor Snape?” A young girl asked, mustering up her courage.

Snape tore his gaze away from the dead fish’s eyes and stared into Eleanor Branstone’s eyes, and coldly said, “No need, Miss Branstone.”

On the other side, Felix was patiently explaining to Professor Burbage why his pen pal would not show up, “Charity, you should know that in reality there are some people who are withdrawn, inarticulate, and extremely repulsive to interact with people …”

Professor Burbage showed a skeptical look, “Is that so? His language in the letter was pretty much sharp though.”

“Some people prefer to communicate through their writing and think more thoughtfully.” Felix said with a shrug.

Eleanor Branston couldn’t help but gaze curiously at the statue-like Snape, wondering if Professor Snape is thinking that her fish isn’t grilled properly, and pulled out a small jar from her belongings and used her wand to conjure out a blue bellflower-like flame, which circled the grilled fish twice as she sprinkled some spices, and in an instant the aroma was overwhelming.

Snape’s nose twitched slightly.

Eleanor Branston looked at him encouragingly, as if waiting for him to ask, but Snape took two cold steps back, revealing Valen, who had been drawn in by the aroma.

” Travelling Niffler Merchant!” Eleanor Branston called out, pointing at Valen.

Valen puffed out her chest proudly, her dark eyes blinking as she pointed out her one small finger at the grilled fish on the stand.

Eleanor Branston handed her one with a grin.

Valen leaped onto the table and gave an odd glance to Snape, who had been standing next to her and when she saw no reaction from him, she ate it happily.

It is delicious~!

“Hey, Valen, so you are here?” Felix who had just concluded his conversation with Professor Burbage turned his head and made his way to the booth where Valen eating. He stared at the grilled fish and muttered to himself, “Looks like a perfect heat, do I have to sign up to get one?” He asked Eleanor, as he looked down.

“Or you can help with the flyers.” Eleanor carefully pointed to a few students not far away, who appeared to be from different houses, but all with one unifying feature: grilled fish in one hand and a flyer in the other.

“Sounds fair enough,” Felix said hesitantly, “would it be alright if I traded it with a recipe, I know a secret sauce that tastes rather … Severus?” He trailed off in surprise.

Snape looked at him indifferently.

“Of course, I’ve heard that you are the person who created the ‘fish-deboning spell’ -” Eleanor said.

“Stop, don’t mention that.” Felix grimaced and pulled a piece of parchment from his ring, “One hand on the fish, and the other one on the recipe, deal?”

Eleanor Branston blinked, “Deal.” She glanced over at Snape and handed him two grilled fish over, “The extra is a gift for you, Professor, you can give it to whoever you want.”

“Oh, thanks.” Felix took it and took a bite from one of the skewered grilled fish, then turned his head to look at Snape with a smirk, “Want a try? I can assure you, it tastes great.”

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