A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Chapter 250: Chestnut Wood Plate

In the ancient magical text office, Hermione gazed curiously around. Professor's office appeared rather cluttered, with two piles of Christmas presents in the corner, one of which had partially unpacked boxes strewn about.

On the spacious worktable were various odd items in disarray – silver plates the size of palms, adorned with magical symbols around the edges; a dozen emerald-green coins with a heavy metallic sheen; disassembled magical puppets; a stack of parchment; several chestnut wood plate-like ornaments and runic knives; along with two or three books.

Felix Harp noticed Hermione's gaze. "It's all recent work, some of which you've also been involved in."

Hermione nodded. The silver plates were meditation basins the professor had acquired and needed repairing. As for the coins, she had seen them transform into a serpent with a tail at the magical script club meeting. She just hadn't expected so many all at once. Could they be new teaching materials?

Or perhaps, they were prepared for the magical script club?

"Have a seat for a moment. I'll change into a different coat," Felix said, walking into the bedroom and emerging in a loose, sea-blue sweater. Upon returning, he found Hermione cradling a small emerald snake in her hands, absentmindedly toying with it.

Upon hearing footsteps, she explained a bit flustered, "Professor, it's the coin you placed on the table. I tried sensing it with magic – and it transformed like this."

Felix chuckled. "You can touch it with your wand's tip and silently say, 'Infinite.'"

Hermione looked down at the small snake in her hand. It didn't seem threatening, lacking the slimy sensation of a real serpent. Instead, it resembled a kind of metallic craftsmanship with its layers of emerald scales extending all the way to the tip of its tail.

The snake's eyes were black and bright, following her gaze as they moved.

Drawing her wand, she gently tapped the snake's head and softly uttered, "Infinite."

The snake nodded in a rather human-like manner and immediately began swimming. Her palm started to itch, and then it connected at the tip of her right pinky, forming a stationary ring.

"This is… the Serpent Crest Ring?"

"Indeed, it's a symbol of the Magical Script Club. You'll receive them after Christmas for the meeting. It has two forms – the coin and the Serpent Crest Ring – and can serve as a substitute for Feverfew."

Felix joked, "More than one person has told me that Feverfew is too easily mistaken for a coin, making them careful not to spend it every time."

Hermione examined the snake ring in her hand with great interest. She soon figured out the trick. With a wave of her hand, the ring came to life, transforming back into the snake, which then coiled and turned into the original coin.

Hermione placed the coin back on the worktable and pointed to the chestnut wood plate-like ornament. "What's this? It looks somewhat like the meditation basin."

"We're getting close. The process of studying the meditation basin wasn't smooth, but I managed to create some small playthings in imitation – of course, they can't compare to the basin, but for some people, they might find them quite amusing."

Felix gestured for her to give it a try. Many times, as an assistant in Ancient Magical Texts class, Hermione was the first to try out the magical script creations he made.

Hermione approached, carefully inspecting the plate-like ornament made of chestnut wood. It bore a striking resemblance to the meditation basin, just slightly smaller, with intricate magical runes etched around the edges, layers upon layers interlocking and forming complex circuits.

Something she hadn't noticed before was the thin layer of silver sand covering the chestnut wood. Gently shaking it, the silver sand flowed like liquid mercury.

"These silver things—"

"They're blank fragments of memory. You can think of them as necessary filling material."

After a moment's thought, Hermione touched the edge of the chestnut wood plate with her wand. The runic circuits around the plate lit up one by one, and the silver sand invisibly knitted together, floating to about a foot high and forming a slowly rotating cloud.

She suddenly remembered Professor Flitwick demonstrating bronze-colored smoke in a dueling class, a magical feat that could also take various shapes, but required manual control.

However, the silver, sand-made cloud before her seemed more delicate, like liquid silver light, stretching and floating gracefully.

"What should I do?" Hermione asked.

"Imagine a memory, just a reminder, nothing too private, as it can access your thoughts."

Hermione was startled, but since it was a creation based on the meditation basin, it must be related to memories. She recalled a memory in her mind, then extended a finger, tapping on the silver cloud.

The cloud began to surge, and silver sand fell like rain. Gradually, they piled up on the silver plate, forming a three-dimensional model: it was the scene from their second year, when she, Harry, and Ron battled the serpent in the Chamber of Secrets.

Resting her head on the table, Hermione peered closely at the tiny "Hermione" on the chestnut wood plate, not even half an inch tall. The sense of oddity she felt was difficult to put into words. Similarly, Harry and Ron were only minuscule, the serpent about half a foot long, thrashing its body and smashing a "large" rock with its tail, appearing vividly lifelike.

The Chamber's architecture was replicated as well, including the Slytherin statue, the open space in front of it, the serpentine columns... everything looked so small.

Everything on the chestnut wood plate resembled a pocket-sized sand model, but one that was animated. From this perspective, even the initially dangerous scene became somewhat endearing.

Hermione stared wide-eyed as the "story" unfolded exactly as it did in her memory, right up to the point where Harry leaped off the Slytherin statue and thrust the delicate Gryffindor sword into the serpent's head, freezing the scene.

Hermione stared blankly at the slowly rotating sand on the chestnut wood plate, taking quite a while to come back to reality.

"This is... this is..." She struggled to find words to convey her feelings, ultimately managing to say, "It's truly magical."

Felix Harp shook his head, not entirely satisfied. This thing didn't serve much purpose for him, at most helping him brainstorm.

"That's because you haven't used a meditation basin. It can recreate every detail in your subconscious. If you experience it, you'd be surprised to find your memories hold such richness, yet you remained oblivious..."

"What you just saw is essentially the chestnut wood plate reading your memories and displaying them. Many parts are not clear."

Hermione recalled the scenes she had seen and gradually understood the professor's intent. "Indeed, that's right. I didn't see you, Professor Snape, or Headmaster Dumbledore, but you were all in the Chamber. Additionally, some parts were blurry, but they were so small that I didn't notice, like the Slytherin statue."

Felix Harp nodded with a smile. "You'll realize that you, Harry, and Ron are the most distinct because you're most familiar with them. Next is the serpent, as it left a strong impression on you. Finally, the surroundings. In a sense, your memory is already quite remarkable. For someone with a less robust memory, the environment might appear as vast blurry areas, or they might not manifest at all."

Hermione summarized, "So, it merely extracts content we can already recall and then presents it, unable to access the subconscious."

"You've grasped the essence, Miss Granger," Felix Harp praised.

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