A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts-Chapter 644: Observation Report - (1)

"You guys didn't spill a single word, did you?" Harry grinned.

Ron scrutinized the twins' clothing.

"How much did this cost?" he asked.

Fred sighed theatrically, then waved his wand lightly, and three tall glasses flew over, landing in Harry and their hands. Fred and George approached, clinking glasses with them and downing their drinks. "We won't disturb you any longer," Fred said.

"Someone has been mentioning your names a lot," George said with a mischievous smile. "Especially that chubby professor. It seems like every third sentence, he has to bring you all up. We suspect someone among you has secretly put a spell on him."

The two made way. "Wait, wait!" Harry called out, but it was too late.

"Harry, my boy!" Professor Slughorn spotted the trio keenly, immediately straightening his large belly bound in a brown waistcoat as he walked towards them, several shiny gold buttons glinting like eyes on a creature.

The office fell silent for a few seconds, various appraising gazes shooting from all directions, one of the reasons Harry disliked this environment. Fortunately, he saw Mrs. Weasley waving happily at them, making it easier for Professor Slughorn to drag him over.

"And you two," Slughorn said to Ron and Hermione as he walked, "I had a long chat with your parents—uh—about the importance of family education." However, he didn't take Harry over to the Weasleys and Grangers, instead maneuvering through the crowd to join in Amelia Bones's conversation.

He placed Harry firmly between Ernie and Macmillan, smiling broadly. "See, you won't find friendships as strong as those built during school days." Harry stared, his expression stiff.

He had no idea when he and Ernie and Macmillan had established such "strong friendships."

For the next while, Harry remained silent.

He noticed Slughorn mostly steering the conversation around Mrs. Bones, occasionally throwing some attention towards Sirius. This seemed to align with the thoughts of the Macmillans and Bones, so Sirius only needed to nod occasionally, spending the rest of the time observing the uncomfortable-looking students.

Mrs. Bones's answers were concise and to the point. Throughout the conversation, apart from smiling at Harry, she remained mostly expressionless, fitting more into the image of a stern minister—Azkaban still held over three hundred foreign wizards, after all.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Susan Bones sitting in the corner, munching on an apple. She seemed to notice Harry's gaze, quickly slipped away, and melted into the crowd.

At that moment, Felix and Snape approached together.

Neville tugged at his father's sleeve. Frank Longbottom was chatting with the Grangers about the quirks of personalized wands. "Oh—so fascinating! We've always wondered whose talents our daughter inherited..."

"What's wrong?" Frank's expression lit up at first, but upon seeing Snape following Felix, the joy quickly faded. Snape glanced over here, exchanged a few words with Felix in a low voice, then turned to find Damocles Belby.

Felix smoothly joined the conversation.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Bones, upon seeing him, quickly exchanged a few words before walking over. At the same time, an old woman darted out from the corner, her hair all white, hurrying footsteps, and their eyes met, each stopping in their tracks.

Felix timely showed a hint of surprise. Mrs. Bones quickly weighed the pros and cons in her mind, changed direction, and went to meet the old woman. "Mrs. Pinkstone, we need to talk." The old woman gave her a disdainful look, then left.

"Who's that woman?" Mr. Granger asked curiously.

Felix shook his head, so Mr. Granger continued his story about getting the personalized wand. "I just wanted to give it a try, so my wife and I signed up. The staff told us we might have to wait a long time in line and pass through various checks... But the next day, we received a notification. The whole process went unbelievably smoothly."

Felix winked at Hermione, and her face turned red.

"I guess no one would refuse a favor to a recipient of the Merlin Order."

Mr. Granger paused, puzzled.

"Oh, really?" he suddenly said with some unease. "I heard that person has been apprehended? We've subscribed to several magical newspapers, closely following the developments... It's said that the mysterious individual—what a peculiar name—made a deal with a former Azkaban guard, trading human emotions for powerful spellcasting abilities."

"Dad—I've told you to lay off The Quibbler!" Hermione exclaimed, her face turning even redder.

"But only this one paper provides an explanation..." Seeing his daughter's flushed face, Mr. Granger decisively changed the subject. "Mr. Harp—"

"You can call me Felix."

"...Alright, Felix," he said. "We bought a whole set of magical projectors, and I particularly love the 'immersive' mode. It's so magical, it feels like we've become characters in the movie. But we have to lock the doors and hang the 'Do Not Disturb' sign when using it."

"Hermione," Mrs. Granger said, intentionally putting on a stern face, focusing on other matters, "look at your hair—didn't you send for that sleek hair potion? And your clothes, have you been wearing the same outfit all this time?"

Hermione exclaimed in frustration and stormed off. Mrs. Granger followed.

"My daughter—uh, she's always been a bit stubborn," Mr. Granger attempted to explain.

"...I can relate."

Meanwhile, finally freed from the conversation, Harry and Sirius wandered around the area, laden with food.

"Was that woman Carlotta Pinkstone?" Harry asked.

"Yep, a total nuisance. Don't bother with her, Harry," Sirius said, stuffing a spoonful of strawberry pudding into his mouth, speaking unclearly. "As if we didn't have enough trouble already."

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, concerned, thinking of Sirius's investigative task. "Is the job not going well?"

Sirius grimaced.

"It's going too well—because of that, the problem has gotten bigger," he said with a pained expression, "a lot of things are out in the open now."

"Why's that? You don't seem like everything's fine."

"Well, I just confirmed someone's theory. In fact—" Sirius looked up and noticed they had unwittingly wandered over to Felix. Felix flashed him a toothy grin. Sirius quickly pulled Harry in another direction and continued, "As I was saying, it's just running errands, delivering those books to Felix, no big deal."

"But, over these past few months, I've figured something out."

Sirius became serious. "Muggles are different from wizards. They can deduce massive theories from simple principles, and because they have a sufficient number of people, they have enough manpower to fully realize the potential of these theories, naming them 'basic scientific theories'... This means, Muggle progress can be estimated—of course, there are exceptions, but generally speaking— I'm increasingly feeling that there's a barrier ahead, once crossed, it'll be very difficult for wizards to keep things secret."

Harry listened with a heavy heart, thinking of the lecture segment Professor Bathsheda showed him, wondering if that person half a century ago, like Professor Hip, also anticipated the inevitable exposure of wizards? But Grindelwald ultimately chose to start a war, attempting to subjugate Muggles.

He discreetly described Professor Bathsheda's views to Sirius, who stopped chewing, looking pensive as he gazed at Harry.

"I don't know what Dumbledore's thinking, but since he chose this Professor Bathsheda as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, it means he's also aware of the problem. Do you think the professor is hostile to Muggles?"

"Not exactly," Harry said, racking his brain for the right words. "I guess he probably sees wizards and Muggles as two separate groups, and once wizards are exposed to the outside world—you know, conflicts might arise—" he trailed off, suddenly holding his breath.

He thought of war.

Sirius caught the anxious expression on his face, seeming to guess what Harry was thinking, and spoke solemnly.

"Don't worry, the problem isn't that big. I agree with Felix's view, we still have several decades to prepare—at least, the Minister of Magic has always been in contact with the Muggle Prime Minister, it's not completely isolated."

He suddenly lowered his voice, and Harry leaned in to hear more clearly.

"To be honest, I kind of admire Felix—don't tell him though, let's not inflate his ego—because not only did he point out the problem, but he also quietly laid the groundwork for us... Amelia already has a rough plan in mind."

"What plan?" Harry held his breath, his gaze following his godfather's to Professor Hip in the crowd.

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