A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts-Chapter 649: Significant Time Point

As February rolled in, the snow within the school grounds began to melt, leaving the air damp and chilly. With the arrival of the first cold rain, Professor McGonagall gathered seven of the most promising students to remind them that they were now entering the rainy season, with a high likelihood of encountering stormy weather.

Of course, this was just a ploy to instill a sense of urgency in the students, keeping them from becoming complacent. Privately, Felix had assured her that he could conjure up a storm for Hogwarts at a moment's notice.

As another sunset approached, Harry finished reciting the Animagus incantation. During the recitation, he felt a slight quickening of his heartbeat, but he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination. After hesitating for a while, he decided to wait another two days before reporting to the professor, wanting to be absolutely sure.

Exiting the courtyard, he spotted two familiar figures, one of which quickly left upon his arrival. Hurrying over, he called out, "Luna?"

"Hi, Harry," Luna greeted warmly, waving at him even though he was already standing in front of her. "Long time no see."

"It hasn't been that long, really," Harry muttered, "Were you just talking to Ron?"

"Yeah, but we didn't get to say much. He left as soon as he saw you. I think he's avoiding you," Luna said.

"Thanks for letting me know," Harry said. Luna once again demonstrated her unique ability—cutting right to the unpleasant truth. He had never met anyone quite like her. "So... um, what were you both talking about?"

Harry tried to steer the conversation back on track, not wanting Luna to wander off on her own tangent.

"He told me to 'bugger off'," Luna said.

"Not that—sorry, Luna, let me apologize on his behalf. Ron's been in a bit of a mood lately, acting like a complete git... partly my fault."

"It's alright," Luna said calmly. "Ginny told me a bit about it. She said she shouldn't have been so impulsive, even though she spent more time proving herself right. Ron's just being his usual self... She also mentioned Hermione and Neville, so does that mean my friends were fighting behind my back?"

Harry felt extremely awkward hearing Luna talk about it as if it were some beneficial group activity, and they had somehow excluded her.

"No, Luna, I wanted to know if he mentioned anything specific? Like—"

"His birthday," Luna said somewhat absentmindedly. "He said he messed everything up and asked me not to bother him anymore. He seemed quite upset, but that's not surprising, is it? It's his coming-of-age... I remember your birthday is at the end of July?" Her last statement sounded less absentminded.

"That's right," Harry said absentmindedly. This wasn't what he wanted. "Thank you, Luna, but I actually wanted to know where he's been hiding lately—wait, coming-of-age?" His mind raced. He knew Ron's birthday was on March 1st and had already prepared a gift, but he hadn't really connected the dots with coming-of-age.

He suddenly realized something: among the three of them—himself, Ron, and Hermione—Hermione was the first to come of age, then Ron, and finally himself—July 31st, less than six months away.

Not much time left, he thought eagerly.

Maybe Ron wanted to use the Animagus transformation as his coming-of-age gift, so his reaction was so extreme after failing? Harry subconsciously made excuses for Ron. By this time, Luna had begun to answer Harry's second question.

"...I asked Felix about it while I was carrying my two gifts, the model of the Triwizard Cup Ginny gave me and the magical Triwizard Cup. He said it was a good sign, albeit unexpected... Ron was there too."

"You said you saw Ron in Professor Snape's office?" Harry caught onto the key word keenly. "What was he doing there?"

"...with his mouth stuffed with chocolate cake, I almost didn't recognize him," Luna finished her sentence as if she hadn't heard him, "I only saw him there once. But maybe he's been there all along."

With more questions than before, Harry headed back.

He hadn't expected Ron to be in Professor Snape's office, as in his mind, the professor hadn't had any individual contact with Ron, even during detentions, they had always been with him together. And what was with the chocolate cake?

Meanwhile, Ron had already gone a long way, circling around to the front of the castle, climbing up the moving stairs, and sneaking into Professor Ancient Runes' office.

He was greeted by Valen.

"Is the professor still in Classroom 7?" Ron asked in a low voice.

Valen nodded mechanically. Based on past experience, it knew its snacks were in jeopardy again. Ron hurriedly slipped inside. Inside, an animated movie was playing.

There were fruit preserves and Professor Snape's assignment for Valen on the table.

Except for the first time when Felix was present, the remaining occasions were all attended by Ron with Valen. As for the reason—Valen wanted someone to do homework with, and most of the time, it was Hermione who played this role. However, she hadn't been around much lately, apparently busy researching how to transform into animals.

Valen found this idea extremely puzzling. It even double-checked with Ron multiple times that the Animagus spell could only turn wizards into ordinary creatures, not magical ones.

Was there any point in studying that?

Valen thought about the series of forms it had seen from the Great Wizard—nightmares with bat wings, feathered snakes that could change size, the invisible creature, the vanishing and appearing Ball-Bear, the Thunderbird that controlled lightning, the White Stoat that split itself in two...

Because the list was too long, Valen, lost in thought, looked as if it were daydreaming.

Ron opened his backpack and took out his textbooks and parchment. He paid a price for his actions—now he had to do his homework alone, with no one to refer to, but he did want to prove he could do it without relying on anyone.

Even though the results of these past few times usually ended up with him and Valen watching cartoons and snacking together. But at least Valen's homework didn't require much thinking. It could write while watching, but he couldn't. This made Ron even more discouraged.

Was there really nothing he could do right?

Felix sat with a furrowed brow, unfolding a piece of parchment. These days, there were only a handful of people he could really talk to—excluding Lavender, who seemed to have taken a liking to him. Her omnipresence lately was rather unnerving, making her one of the people he needed to avoid.

Valen shifted its gaze away from the screen, examining the parchment Felix was holding. It seemed fine, no serial writing… Then it glanced at Ron, leaning in for a peek. Ron, on guard, quickly covered the parchment with his hand.

"Hmm?"

"What did you say?"

Valen sighed, realizing that the road to widespread adoption of Sniffle-Speak was still long. So far, only three people could directly converse with it. Valen took out its wand and began writing in the air—it had become quite adept at it: 'Dear Collins, who's that?'

Ron gasped.

"Her name is Collins, not 'Dear Collins'—" he tried to explain word formation to a Sniffler, "It's a language used for writing letters, similar to 'hello'…"

The little stick continued to move, adding a few new words to the air.

'Dear Lavender?'

Ron shook his head vigorously, "No, that's not how you use it."

Valen squinted at him suspiciously, as if he were trying to pull a fast one.

...

As Felix emerged from Classroom Seven, Ron was intently watching the screen, absorbed in the climax of a cat-and-mouse chase. His mouth was stuffed with strawberry-filled biscuits. "Professor?" Ron said nervously.

"Yes," Felix replied, "Here you are again. Still on bad terms with everyone?" Ron remained silent. "Well, suit yourself. I'll just tell everyone I've put you in detention. Just don't disturb me."

Suddenly, something crossed Felix's mind. "By the way, your birthday is on March 1st?"

"Yes, Professor," Ron replied, swallowing hard. "A month earlier than Fred and George."

Felix sat behind his desk, chin resting on his hand, lost in thought. Time really flew by. The sixth-year students were beginning to come of age. At the latest... it should be Harry's group, almost a year later than Hermione. I wonder if their grades and birthdays are directly related.

Felix's movements suddenly halted.

Coming of age...?

If he remembered correctly, Dumbledore's blood protection spell on Harry would automatically expire when he came of age, right? Felix stared at Ron thoughtfully, making him feel uneasy.

"Professor?"

"Hush, don't speak." Felix whispered softly, lost in thought.

Harry had two layers of protection.

One came from Dumbledore, linked by blood relations, which would automatically expire when he came of age; the other came from Harry's mother, Lily Potter, specifically against Voldemort's killing curse, which should be permanent. But all spells had their limits. After withstanding and rebounding Voldemort's killing curse, how much longer could Lily's protective magic hold?

Felix couldn't be sure. But he did feel a long-lost sense of unease, as if... time wasn't as abundant as he thought. After a moment of contemplation, he tore off a piece of parchment, dipped his quill in ink, glanced at the calendar to find the nearest weekend—

"February 8th, outside Classroom Seven; keep it confidential, try to solve the problem at 8 a.m."

After folding the note, Felix handed it to Ron.

"Deliver this to Harry for me."

Ron's hand hung in the air, hesitating. "Professor, can Hermione deliver it instead? I... I'm busy right now—"

"That's fine," Felix didn't insist.

"Professor, what's the note about?" Ron asked, swallowing nervously. He suspected Felix was trying to secretly help Harry, just like that Professor Babbling.

"Well," Felix looked at Ron with a measured gaze, "it's nothing, really. You should already know—it's about the person locked away in Classroom Seven, right?"

"...The mysterious one."

"Yes, it's time for Harry to face him."

Clatter.

Ron's cauldron cake fell to the ground.

You can access more chapters from HERE by joining my Patreon community. You'll gain exclusive early access to the COMPLETE NOVEL.

As a member of my Patreon community, here is what you'll get:

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on fre𝒆web(n)ovel.co(m)