Chapter 726

[Emotional thread, please read at your own discretion :)]

Five years have passed, and it’s yet another summer.

“Time flies.” On one side of the couch, Ms. Bones said with a smile. Opposite to her is Hermione, who has just returned from abroad, after finishing a two-year inspector duty in the International Pan-Magical Alliance, she is dressed in formal clothes, her hair is pulled together behind her head, and her body exudes a refined temperament.

“How was your experience travelling around the world?” Ms. Bones passed her a cup of tea.

“Great.” Hermione said with a wide smile, taking small sips of the hot tea and groaning in satisfaction. Then she sighed and said, “I seem to have used up my lifetime travel quota, so unless it’s a hard-to-miss chance, I’m going to stay in our country for good.”

“That’s good news,” Ms. Bones said in a jubilant tone, “you can come back and continue to work as my secretary. I got my hands full with lots of things to do while you were away.”

Hermione looked at her with a pout.

“Am I only supposed to be a secretary?”

Ms. Bones laughed.

“Oh, you still want to be Minister of Magic, good drive, little girl, it more or less brings me some relief in the current situation …” Looking at Hermione’s puzzled expression, she explained, “Scrimgeour is older and might retire earlier than me, and as Thicknesse, Crouch Sr. who serves as an advisor did – he adopted a half nephew last year, and has only made a handful of appearances in the Ministry since then; other senior ranking officials are only good at one field, such as Ludo Bagman, Phoebus Penrose, Arthur Weasley …”

“… Now the demands placed on the minister have grown so high that I have to spend every day studying and trying to deal with various sectors.” She said with some annoyance, “A certain fellow stays in school and no longer makes a public appearance, and the few times I wrote to him, he sent me a perfunctory letter.”

“You mean the professor?” Hermione asked, perking up her ears.

“He is the one,” Ms. Bones said indignantly, then she gently rubbed her forehead and softened her tone, “I can actually understand Felix’s behaviour, he seems to deliberately isolate himself from the general public, just like Dumbledore after 1945… …as the most important deterrent force in the present world, his private life gets blurred. The Sword Bearer, that’s what they call him.”

Hermione nodded slowly, recalling the last two years of experience, she now had a deeper understanding of Bones’ words.

No matter where she went, people would zealously inquire about the professor’s private affairs, and when she cherry-picked and described the unimportant details of his life to them, these people would show complete shock and amazement, as if the myth had shone into reality. Hermione was deeply impressed by a response from a particular person.

“Is what you have said true? Mr. Hap sat down to eat with you? Won’t you feel pressured … still have a glass of wine once in a while? He is also very skilled at dancing? Oops, I always thought he would be a, a-” He gestured with his finger in mid-air for a while, and then he failed to elaborate his thoughts. The man said with an apologetic smile: “Sorry, I’ve only seen him on TV and newspapers, well, I also collected one copy of a magic newspaper, which reported about the bonfire night on the floating island, which has now been turned into a small city …”

But Hermione is well aware: in the mind of that person – or many people, the name Felix Hap has long ceased to represent a specific person, it has become more akin to an abstract symbol, a law, or a rule, such impressions will become more and more solid with the passage of time.

Five years ago, when the grand Christmas bonfire at sea on the floating island ended, everything returned to tranquillity, and since then, the magical and non-magical communities began to work together in an orderly manner, with occasional twists and turns, but there are no more major conflicts. Everything went on smoothly. Six months later, their class graduated from school, when Harry and Ron chose to travel around, and she dived into the heavy workload in the Ministry of Magic.

There were so many things that needed to be sorted out.

Politics, Economics, Culture, Law, Education, Art … Yes, Art. One of the first things Miss Granger did after joining the Ministry was to host an International Art Exhibition in England – an exhibition of works that originated after being inspired by the super magic Professor Hap left behind in New York Harbor. Although Hermione had long seen the relevant pictures in the newspaper, still she had to admit that those artists picked a tricky enough angle, she had stopped in front of a six-meter-long panoramic overlook photo gallery called ‘The Art of God’ for a long time, and the description on the nameplate stated that the work was made up of thousands of photos which encompassed both broad views of the city and cleverly integrated hundreds of details.

It is even accompanied by the artist’s comment about it, “If there is a God, he appeared on December 24, 1997, to turn the helm of human destiny gently in a new direction.”

But Hermione knew that ‘God’ has his own worries. Such as grading student test papers, shortlisting the list of the first batch of scientists to join the floating island, selecting birthday gifts for Muggle friends –

Hermione, who recalled this, took a sip of tea to suppress the urge to roll her eyes.

It made her think about what the professor said at the time.

“I’m not very good at this, I have asked Sirius, Remus, and even Harry, but they have no idea of what gifts they would like to receive for their first child, let alone Severus … so help me out, Miss Granger.”

This happened not long after the New Year, and the targets of the questions were all busy, none of them planned on having a baby in the near future at that time, especially Harry, who must have been baffled when he was asked – he and Ginny wanted to get married by the end of this year (2003).

“How’s little Rosalie?” Hermione asked.

“Good as gold,” Ms. Bones grunted through her nose, “Sirius often carries her to visit Harry and Lupin, and every day before I leave the office I have to use the communication mirror to check where my husband and daughter are, and frankly, I’m not quite accustomed to house elves calling me ‘Your Honourable Lady’, Sirius isn’t used to it either, but he seems to think it’s funny …”

Hermione pursed her lips and smiled lightly. Rosalie is the female version of Sirius’ brother Regulus’ name, who was born three years ago around the same time as Lupin and Tonks’ first child, and together with Bill and Fleur’s child, who is a year older than them, the three little ones fit perfectly as playmates.

When she stepped out of the office, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

Ms. Bones gave her a month off, “A lot of people you know, and many familiar places have changed a lot, take a look around, and then come to work in good spirits, the position of Chief Assistant of the Minister’s Office is reserved for you.”

She wandered over to the Auror office, and along the way, all the staff showed surprise and welcomed her return.

The office in question is divided into many cubicles, the outside of which is labelled with Auror’s name along with the nature and scope of the work they’re responsible for, while the interior walls are covered with portraits of wanted criminals, posters, photos of family members, recent news clippings that correspond to their personal interests and other things that look eye-catching and diverse.

Hermione quickly found Harry, Ron, and Neville’s space based on her memory, but all three seats were empty.

“Potter and Weasley have been rotated to the floating island post, and Longbottom is in charge of investigating a case of potion material smuggling.” Nearby Auror said to her, he had a long beard and looked like a scaled-down Hagrid. “You know, as the list of magic potions suitable for ordinary people’s constitution has become longer and longer, the smuggling in that aspect has become more and more frequent …”

Hermione nodded slightly, she was aware of the smuggling problem mentioned by the Auror, which has become a common headache for all Ministries of Magic, but the place where the black market trade is most rampant is certainly America – sort of one of the follow-up impacts of the ‘Drill’ incident back then.

Then there is Future World Corporation, whose Headquarters was moved to the floating island a long time ago, earlier than the relocation of the Confederation’s headquarters – which has now also served as the International Pan-Magic Alliance headquarters as both of which completed their merger six months ago with the retirement of Akingbade and the take-over of Professor Hap. Over the years, the number of people on the island gradually increased, and various Ministries of Magic regularly sent Aurors to maintain order on the island.

“Where’s Tonks? Oh, she should be on the island too, along with Lupin and Collins?”

“Tonks applied for permanent duty on the island six months ago, after all, her family is there, and as for Ms. Foley,” The bearded Auror revealed a smile that only he could understand, as he said seriously: “I’ll just describe what happened to you, Weasley originally did not have to join in the routine patrol, but he blurted out something at the last party, saying that Collins had taken the initiative to court him …”

“Uh.” Hermione held her forehead, she could totally imagine what happened after that – Ron running away in a panic, with Collins chasing after him with a knife.

Her eyes went over to Harry’s space (where there is a picture of him and Ginny together, both riding on broomsticks, with Ginny in her Holyhead Harpies uniform), two separate pictures pasted on Ron’s cubicle, and papers scattered on the desk that seemed to have been haphazardly pushed into the corner to make room for the chessboard in the middle before he left. It turned out to be a wizard’s chess set, with the pieces bouncing around so lively that if it weren’t for the fishbowl-like glass shell holding them inside, they would have run out and bounced around. A piece of paper was stuck on the outside of the glass shell, which read: Dangerous items, avoid contact.

Hermione’s pupils flashed with a silver glint, and she could see that the pieces are densely woven with rune symbols.

“He hadn’t finished when I left.” She said with a sigh.

“What? Oh!” The bearded Auror said with great interest, “The famous ‘Knight’ Weasley, the ‘Stag’ who shares common traces with Floating island’s Ouroboros Patronus, Longbottom who can enter the dream world, Malfoy who established the first Joint Wizard-Muggle Hospital, Lovegood … who discovered many kinds of magical creatures in a row, and of course, there’s also you, Miss Granger, there are really a lot of talents emerging these years.”

He then lowered his voice and said, “You’re back just in time, I’ve heard some gossip: Ms. Bones is planning to step down as Minister, and she might spend the next few years looking for new Minister candidates …”

Hermione raised her eyebrow.

“It’s true!” Bearded Auror said hurriedly, “I heard Potter will soon be promoted to Head of Auror’s Office post, Weasley will be reassigned to Muggle Liaison Office, and Longbottom will solely take over the responsibility for smuggling cases, but it was rumoured that he has other plans, and has recently been frequenting Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade …”

“Thank you, Tuttle.” Hermione said, “I think it’s too early for me to think about that, Kingsley is an excellent wizard.”

“Oh, Kingsley …” the bearded wizard said, somewhat lost in thought, “You’re right, he’s a good fit in every aspect.”

After leaving the Ministry of Magic, Hermione strolled through the streets of London, where the traces of magic seemed to unknowingly occupy their place in the city as if they were originally meant to do so. She pushed the door into a bookshop, and on a separate shelf, Dumbledore’s caring face watched her – a biography jointly authored by Harry and Elphias Doge, with a purple ribbon-bound cover that read “Bestseller for three years in a row”.

But today, there was another wizard book placed in the center, and Hermione stared at the title on it with an odd expression on her face: ‘Harry Potter’, and the huge poster next to it explained everything, with the young face of Mafalda Prewett printed on it, with a wide smile.

‘An EXCLUSIVE unravelling of ‘Real Student Life’ on a ‘School of Witchcraft and Wizardry’, unveiling a glimpse into the curtain of Legend’s Saga from the perspective of Key Characters. Observed personally by the writer for three years to obtain first-hand information (fifth to seventh-grade content), combined with multiple interviews with the parties involved and those who experienced it to restore the Truth … The first film under the same name will be released on June 25.’

Hermione stared dazedly.

Past memories came back to her mind, oh my God, Mafalda actually wrote about Harry in a book, he must be pissed off … I wonder what he looks like in the film? She glanced at the calendar next to her, today happens to be the twenty-fifth.

She picked up Dumbledore’s biography and Harry Potter (she had read the former many times), and hesitantly touched the book with the title ‘The Lion and the Firebird’, authored by Sybill Trelawney as she moved her fingers in between. She was not interested in Trelawney’s book, and did not question why this Divination book had been placed in a Muggle bookshop with such prominence – perhaps it was because she did occasionally display the gift of the Seer, Hermione reasoned with herself.

What really intrigued her about the book was the testimonial on the cover.

‘Mars has been Historically known for its association with War and Conflict. When it moves closer to us, those who are gifted and sensitive by nature will be the first to be affected – Albus Dumbledore, Gellert Grindelwald, Tom Riddle (Voldemort), Felix Hap, including the author herself – their birthdays all validate this law, and now that this day has come again, what changes will it bring to us?’

“Mars.” Hermione chewed on this word, and after a short time she muttered, “old fraud.”

But she still took that book to the counter and paid for it, and stuffed the three books into her beaded pouch, to which the shopkeeper asked with interest, “Wizard?” “Hmm.” “Can you do me a favour?” The shopkeeper immediately added, “I will give you a 20% discount.”

Hermione stared at her blankly in surprise.

“Well,” the shopkeeper said with a smile, “my daughter, Lily really likes the Little Wizard Mick’s Adventures, can you please just cast a random spell to let her see it personally.”

Hermione hesitated for a moment and asked, “What is her favourite?”

“Anything, ma’am.” The shopkeeper instantly said, “Little things that girls like, bows, dolls, kittens …”

Hermione bit her lip, then held out her hand, and gradually, a pair of beautiful butterflies outlined in the air, then they flew in the air and landed in the shopkeeper’s hand.

“They are bows when they are not moving, and can also accompany your daughter to play together.”

“Thank you so much.”

“It’s nothing, well, do you know the nearest cinema?”

“Sure! There’s one right around the corner.”

Hermione said thank you and walked out of the bookshop, where she followed the directions given to her by the shopkeeper and found the cinema on the adjacent block. As a result, she was a bit dumbfounded – there was a curved queue from the entrance of the cinema to the back door, and all these people seemed to be here for the first Harry Potter film. She looked around, then slipped into an alley when the others weren’t looking, and the next second, she appeared a few kilometers away.

It took her three cinemas in a row to find a place with fewer people.

There was only one person ahead of her in line, and that person was wearing a long trench coat, carrying a small suitcase in his hand, with short black hair, and that day’s newspaper in his other hand.

“A ticket to the ‘Harry Potter’ film,” the man paused, seemingly finding it very intriguing, “Heh, I’ve been looking forward to this for years.”

The ticket seller obviously didn’t take the ‘years’ comment seriously and casually asked, “Got an inside scoop, huh?”

“Sort of.”

Hermione’s eyes widened, and her heart suddenly beat faster. She approached the ticket counter, but the man had already taken his ticket and left.

She bought her ticket quickly, and in the process, she couldn’t help but look around anxiously, and then she bent down to sit sneakily on the opposite side of that man, who reclined on the sofa armchair, unfolding the newspaper and reading it with great interest, and Hermione caught ‘Earth and Mars Distance’, ‘Moon Landing Plan’, and ‘New Breakthroughs in Magical Science’, and other articles.

“Uh, ahem.” She cleared her throat.

Even after a few seconds, there was no half-hearted response from the other side.

She cleared her throat again, but this time she made some other sounds, after which she heard a “Kee?” “Didn’t finish reading? Your reading speed needs to be improved.” The man said, and Hermione could well imagine the look on his face as he spoke, and the little furry, flat-mouthed creature poking her head out of a silver pocket watch near his chest.

She caused the cups on the table to make a “tinkling” sound which already bordered on being noisy.

The other side certainly should have noticed – Hermione’s heart leaped, and she thought about what to say first, when a long, white hand reached out from behind the newspaper, and tapped lightly on the table, then retracted.

A silent spell, Hermione grated her teeth quietly, Professor you are already under suspicion of breaking the law!

Wizards should try to avoid casting magic in public unless they have obtained consent – and that’s something he had personally defined.

Hermione’s eyes flashed with a silver glint. Almost at the same time, an irresistible ripple of magic spread out from the opposite direction, and the somewhat dimly lit environment of the cinema faded off in colour while Hermione gasped for breath.

“Granger-oh, Hermione?”

Hermione regained her breath and saw Felix and Valen glancing at her past the newspaper, and the corners of Felix’s mouth curled up with a smile.

“What a coincidence, you’re here for the film too.”

A pleasant atmosphere fermented and brewed in the air, gently exuding a wine-like aroma. Hermione’s heart beat faster, and she seemed to have forgotten how to breathe – even after two years of being an inspector at the International Pan-Magic Alliance, the two still stayed in touch, at intervals of about two or three months, and occasionally met up on the floating island, but Hermione felt like she had been transported to a different world, that why she hurriedly came back after only two years of being in post. If she counted carefully, they had known each other for a long time, from the second year in the ancient rune office listening to Felix teaching mysteries of ancient runes, no, it should be even earlier – when she was in her fourth year, he was also in the fourth year, they communicated through letters for as long as nine years once a long while…

Hermione stroked her hair and said, “Long time no see, Felix.”

…

Outside the cinema, people were coming and going in the street. Felix and Hermione followed the crowd out, it was dusk, the sky seemed as if it had just rained, even the air was humid, and the puddles on the ground reflected the sky with the soft haze of the sunset.

The two stood at the entrance of the cinema for a while, no one spoke. People who watched the film passed them by, discussing the plot enthusiastically as they walked.

“It was fabulous!”

“But how come Felix Hap didn’t appear?”

“He’s going to be recruited in the following year, didn’t you see the Easter egg at the end of the film? That person who applied for the job should be him -” A girl commented her input: “I heard that quite a few famous actors have volunteered, even though the crew said his part is relatively limited.”

“Gee, I’d rather see him in an independent film, he’s a living LEGEND!”

“What do you think about having Bradley Fitzgerald play Felix Hap?”

“No!” The girl said with a fierce attitude, “His jaw is too round, and he looks like a blacksmith …”

The two talked and laughed as they left.

Hermione pursed her lips a little.

“Seriously, I’d like to see your independent film too.”

“You know I wouldn’t like it,” Felix said, shaking his head slightly, his light blue eyes glued to her, “I’ve made very few public appearances in the past few years, basically staying in school. It’s due to both my personality and more practical considerations: I’m too prominent, so unless I intend to turn the magical world into my sole domain, it’s best to tone down my edge.”

Edge? Hermione thought of the conversation she had with Ms. Bones during the day, “The Sword of Damocles? The Sword Bearer?”

Felix said with slight distress, “People seem to readily accept this term, and even took the liberty of placing me in the position of the second generation Sword Bearer … but compared to other more exaggerated titles, I found it not bad, and it also contains an implicit expectation of the people: whether it is the Sword of Damocles or the Sword Bearer, it will not be easily shown to the people, and only used for intimidation purposes.”

“–but no one can ignore his presence.” Hermione smiled brightly, but her heart did not budge as she laid a verbal trap. “Oh yes, I almost forgot to ask, how is Professor McGonagall?”

“Minerva is fine, she still occasionally gives public classes to students; but she’s usually quite busy–” Felix said with a nod, Hermione looked over quickly with a probing look in her eyes as she stepped closer: “Truly surprising – I remember she was busy even when Headmaster Dumbledore was around.”

Felix said uncomfortably, “Ahem, Miss Granger–”

“Call me Hermione.”

“Well, Hermione,” Felix paused for a moment to find an excuse for his laziness, and of course to be honest. “That does seem rather odd. Perhaps there’s a way to explain this phenomenon: Minerva is so dedicated to her duties to the point where even the slightest hint of an issue draws her attention, whereas Dumbledore and I, well, we’re more than happy to watch from the sidelines for a while and let the issue be exposed more thoroughly, for example …”

“Just like how dad and mom fight over chores,” Hermione continued his words, “it’s not necessarily true that one is lazier than the other, or inattentive, but that the two have different standards of judging ‘cleanliness’ and fail to reach a common understanding.” When she finished, she stared at him with a burning gaze.

Felix froze, “That’s not the analogy I came up with, but it’s very good life wisdom.”

“It’s just you know too little about it.” Hermione blurted out. After saying that, her face became hot, like the evening sun in the sky. She lowered her head, showing only a reddened forehead, and said in a weak mosquito whisper, “I only figured it out by watching my mom and dad, too, I think …”

Felix looked at her fixedly, as if looking at a difficult magic dilemma.

“I am going to travel.” He abruptly said.

“What?”

“A travel.” Felix gestured at his suitcase and newspaper with his eyes, “The distance from Mars to Earth is at its closest during this time, and I’m going to go up there to see it.” Then he asked in a soft tone, “I remember you once mentioned – well, I had just returned from the moon at the time – when you told me that if there is another opportunity, you would also like to tag along to space to see …” He suddenly felt his mouth go a little dry and his heart beat faster.

He could now command a magic that could envelop an entire city easily without any external help, but he still couldn’t figure out how to handle the situation in front of him, nor know the answer in advance. Then an irrelevant thought popped into his head: he must master time magic more quickly.

He pretended to be calm and said.

“… of course, so much time has passed, you may have forgotten it, many people, when they are young, have a momentary impulse, wild thoughts which will eventually fade away … but if your thoughts have not changed, still willing …”

“I do!” Hermione looked up and shouted.

“… I wish to ask you to accompany me.”

There was silence. Then a strong urge surged through his heart, and Felix took a major step in his life, embracing Hermione in the setting sun and brilliant haze, and their shadows nestled together. It was as if the whole world had gone quiet, and the rain drizzled, with a hazy rainbow reflected on the rain. For a good while, the two looked at each other and then smiled together.

Passer-by sent their blessings. They looked no different from other lovers, except that the topic of their discussion was slightly shocking –

“How far is Mars … from us?”

“About 60 million kilometers.”

“It sounds so far, with only the two of us-”

“Kee!”

“- Oh, and Valen.”

“It’s actually not that far, it’s only two-day travel …”

————–

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