Chapter 607: A Welcoming Change (2 in 1)
The way the two men had spoken and laughed confused Professor McGonagall completely, she snorted a disgruntled grunt from her nose and said in a sharp tone.
“So, I won’t have the pleasure of witnessing a fight between colleagues?”
“Minerva,” Felix said with a smile, “there was a small misunderstanding between Mr. … Bagshot and me, which stemmed from a fuzzy understanding I had of his identity… . But now, I’m beginning to look forward to working with him.”
Professor McGonagall showed a skeptical expression.
“You knew each other before?”
“Only through letters,” Grindelwald said with a calm expression, ” originally I had intended to save the surprise for opening day.” He tapped the floor with his cane, “Sometimes one must admit that the older man has better patience.”
“I think it is quite the opposite.” Felix said gently without losing his sharpness.
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, “Seriously, we should better – well, Mr. Bagshot, please follow me -” Grindelwald nodded in greeting towards Felix before following her out, and as the two brushed past, Valen, who was sheltering on Felix’s shoulder, jumped out, one arm crossed and the other pointing at him in an indignant gesture.
Grindelwald staggered slightly on his feet before walking away.
After waiting a few seconds, Felix turned in place to look at their departing figures before striding towards the Headmaster’s office. Dumbledore opened the door twice as slowly as he usually would have, and stopped in front of the window, gazing at the lush green mountains in the distance.
When he turned around, Felix saw a downcast Dumbledore with what appeared to be tears in his eyes, and the question that was already on his lips was swallowed as he replaced it with another question, “Albus, is the curse on your hand healed?”
“I can’t find a reason to keep it.” Dumbledore said in a relaxed tone.
“But I noticed you still have that ring, you seem to like it?” Felix found a random topic of conversation.
Dumbledore looked down to examine the ugly ring he wore, his finger unconsciously started to rub the black jewel on it, he smiled slightly and said, “Who doesn’t love something ancient, with special symbolic significance attached to it? I have met the last descendant of the House of Gaunt, no, not Voldemort, but his uncle Morfin. And from Morfin’s memory, I got to see Voldemort’s mother and maternal grandfather.”
“What kind of people are they?” Felix showed some interest.
“To be frank, a very awful family.” Dumbledore hesitated and said, “Old Marvolo, his son Morfin, his daughter Merope, their line of the family are accustomed to inbred marriages and all the character flaws that come with that make it impossible for them to turn over a new leaf, and they lead a poor life, Merope was a little better, but her two relatives … Let us be fair, they lacked reason, were extremely bad-tempered and violent – by which I mean their unquenchable desire to attack, all the while being arrogant and conceited to the point of incomprehensibility.”
“And stubborn.” Felix added.
“Exactly, and perhaps that is the root of the problem, they are so stubborn that they don’t want to make any changes.” Dumbledore said in agreement, “It’s a common problem with most ancient families, holding on to the honour of their ancestors and refusing to let go, but if you were to ask them what they have done for that glory, all they would say is – next to nothing.”
Their minds and bodies are becoming more and more rigid, that they are no better than ghouls.
Every time one of their family members develops a shred of sanity and courage, they would find an opportunity to escape and never go back. This was true for Merope, and it was also true for another member of the House of Gaunt, the mother of the founder of Ilvermorny.
There was a moment of silence.
Felix waited quietly, and sure enough, Dumbledore opened his mouth to explain.
“I think I owe you an explanation.” He said softly, “Gellert … is in a poor state of health, his long imprisonment has destroyed his constitution, and even if he were completely free of the magic shackles, he would not be able to return to his peak, and his overall strength may not be as good as Alastor’s… …I admit that I am being a little soft-hearted, he will stay at the school for a year, after which I will send him back to Nurmengard again.”
“In the meantime, I will constantly keep an eye on him.”
Felix understood Dumbledore’s complicated emotions towards this dear friend and rival, and nodded silently, “And what is his purpose? Is it simply to teach the students, or is it …”
“Ah, well let’s get to the point immediately.” Dumbledore said, “He showed an intense curiosity towards you and mentioned Professor Burbage, and if what I expected is correct, he’ll visit the greenhouse later for a quick chat!”
” Um-”
Although Dumbledore’s tone did not carry a hint of blame, Felix felt oddly embarrassed hearing it.
This whole thing had a lot to do with him. He knew Grindelwald was an arrogant person, which was evident from the words in his reply, but Felix had previously shown absolutely no respect for this old-timer’s ideas, and on the contrary, he had used various pretexts to introduce Grindelwald to the new changes in the wizarding world, with certain phrases, such as ‘you may not know this’ and ‘that times are not the same’ … were used with great frequency.
This may have touched a sensitive nerve in Grindelwald – one that causes a strong sense of frustration.
This frustration has little to do with insight, intelligence, or temperament, but is purely a result of the fact that he has been so closed off for too long, and thus lagging behind an entire era; Therefore, he is pretty much left to passively accept the facts that Felix throws out at him, while he himself can do nothing but stare with helplessness.
His life had come to a standstill as early as 1945, where it had ended in failure. That would never change as long as he remains in his cell in Nurmengard Castle.
Now, finally, he couldn’t bear it any longer and ran out of it.
Felix was a little embarrassed, although that embarrassment disappeared in the blink of an eye.
“Well, do you know about this, Albus? Grindelwald seems to be on good terms with Harry, I saw Harry bringing him to buy a new walking stick …”
Dumbledore jerked his head up, “Is that true?”
Felix shrugged.
Dumbledore left in a hurry, and Felix could imagine exactly what would happen next: Grindelwald would be forced to stay in the castle, away from Harry. Because – just as Dumbledore had been wary of – Grindelwald’s mind was toxic.
*whistle*
Felix whistled in a happy mood and wandered around the empty Headmaster’s office in all directions. The portraits of past Headmasters who had originally been sleeping in their frames opened their eyes one after another and whispered with each other.
“Dumbledore will pay the price for his soft heart.” An old witch with long silver curls of hair hanging down said pessimistically.
“He’s so irrational.” Said the other brown-faced male wizard in agreement.
“We should trust Dumbledore’s decision, he is the wisest of us, and don’t forget the prophecy that man mentioned-” an old wizard with a frail-looking physique said slowly.
Felix, who was persistently trying to stroke Fawkes’ gorgeous, beautiful golden-red feathers, pricked up his ears; a prophecy?
“Shhh!” The male wizard with a big red nose and chubby body growled.
The portraits shut their mouths, refusing to spill any more secrets after realizing that there is an outsider named Felix’s present.
” Cough cough.” Felix listened for a moment, then paced over and knocked on the silver curly-haired old witch’s frame, “Excuse me, ma’am, the prophecy you just mentioned-”
A clear, very realistic purr sounded in his ears and he even saw the drool flowing from the corners of the old witch’s mouth.
Felix: “…”
He changed his position and walked over to the portrait of the red-nosed male wizard next to him, who plopped down on the table with a plop, followed by a thunderous snore that echoed throughout the circular office, and soon all the portraits were ‘asleep’, but Felix distinctly saw them peeking at him out of the corner of their eyes.
“Don’t bother asking, bad boy, we won’t tell.” The portrait of Phineas Black said in a smug tone, “We won’t listen to you unless you’re the Headmaster, otherwise it’ll be nothing but a waste of time. And you are still a long way from that position …”
He pointed to the Headmaster’s chair behind the long-legged desk, and his attitude was self-explanatory.
Felix grunted softly.
“Didn’t Sirius tell you? I’m on very good terms with the current Minister of Magic, and applying for access to the Hall of Prophecy in the Department of Mysteries is just a breeze for me; which holds a copy of all of the prophecies.”
“You can always try.” Headmaster Black’s portrait narrowed its sly eyes and goaded in an unpleasant tone.
Felix was stunned in place as he said, without much confidence, “Could it be… is there some difference? It can’t be, I mean all the prophecies mentioned will be….. available there, with no exceptions, yes, I know! You’re trying to deceive me, you want to see my disappointed face, I’m not going to give you what you want …”
Headmaster Black’s portrait broke into a hearty laugh.
“Ha ha! Muggle-born person,” he snickered and emotionally said, “a lot of knowledge won’t simply be documented and handed down as a book; important knowledge will only be passed on by word of mouth, understand? Did no one tell you that prophecy is more than just a verbal one, there’s-”
“Shut up! You stupid bastard.” Finally, a witch who was pretending to be asleep in the portrait couldn’t help herself and shouted.
“More than just verbal …” Felix muttered to himself with an expressionless face, chewing on the meaning of the words, “What could that be? Maybe something that requires some sort of interpretation, a tea leaf, a crystal ball, an astral image,” out of the corner of his eye he glanced over at Headmaster Black. The Headmistress who had interjected earlier was waving a stubby wand threateningly at Headmaster Black to warn him, which caused him to protest repeatedly.
“Or a fleeting image? A scene of some future occurrence?”
Felix thought about a certain false prophecy he had received, and at that time it was a brief image, a small memory … Although it was something that was brought back with the help of a time-turner, who could say that isn’t a form of prophecy? And Felix believed that this type of prophecy is much more reliable than a formal prophecy.
He left the Headmaster’s office and unsurprisingly saw Dumbledore returning with a serious look on his face, with Grindelwald at his side.
“I’ve seen a lot of people during this time … are you going to find them one by one and correct their thinking?”
“If it is necessary.” Dumbledore said calmly.
Grindelwald shut his mouth and watched as Felix came down the stairs and paused for a moment.
“Suing to a teacher? A child’s trick.” He tilted his head and said.
“Simple and effective, isn’t it?” Felix responded with a smile, “Sorry, I have a concert to attend … Unfortunately, you can’t go, Mr. Bagshot.” He said cheerfully, “I’ll share my experience with you sometime like I always did previously.”
Grindelwald glared at him fiercely.
“Felix!” Dumbledore said in a deep voice, interrupting the two men’s not-so-friendly conversation, he’s currently having a huge headache, “Felix, Mr. Bagshot will be staying at the school for the rest of the summer. Would you please make a trip and bring his luggage with you along your way back?”
He emphasized the family name ‘Bagshot ‘.
” Happy to oblige, sir.” Felix grinned, “If I run into Harry, I’ll stop by and tell him that the friend he just met won’t be back for some reason – well – for a while.”
Dumbledore left with Grindelwald in tow.
He has already started to regret this hasty decision, which showed heavy obstacles from the very beginning, not to mention that when school started he had to make sure that Grindelwald didn’t take the opportunity to spread his dangerous ideology, and he would definitely have to observe a few classes. At present the situation at hand is voluminous, he doesn’t have that much time to follow around all seven years, and Grindelwald doesn’t have that kind of energy either, maybe it’s a good idea to recruit another professor for the Defence Against the Dark Arts class …
At the other side, Felix of course didn’t go to the concert because today is not the right time.
He rang the doorbell of 4 Privet Drive.
Given that the last time he came over it wasn’t exactly pleasant, and he wasn’t even able to finish his self-introduction, he took the trouble to put some effort into it. After tidying up his hair, his clothes, and, most importantly, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, he looked like an elite businessman.
The door was opened by Vernon Dursley who was big, beefy, and so fat that he barely had a neck. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was in a very bad state of mind as if he hadn’t slept well in the past few days. “What’s-” he shouted gruffly, but immediately lowered his voice sheepishly when he saw Felix all dressed up in a costly outfit, “Hello? May I ask who you are-”
“Felix Hap, sorry for an unexpected visit.” He slightly raised the gift box in his hand, and Vernon’s eyes bulged out slightly when he saw the price tag on it. “I have something important to discuss – um, well can I come in and talk?”
“Of course, of course.” Vernon Dursley opened the door and said in an amiable tone, as he stared at Felix’s inadvertently revealed wristwatch with greedy little eyes, “I think – it’s at least twenty thousand pounds?”
“Perhaps. I wasn’t paying attention.” Felix said carelessly, as he walked into the house.
“Don’t!” Vernon suddenly yelled behind him, the bloodshot in his eyes seemed to flare up, but Felix was already walked into the living room and looked back, had he already been noticed?
“What’s the matter?”
A thin, long-necked woman came out of the kitchen with a ladle in her hand, a little puzzled. Their child, Dudley Dursley, is sprawled out on the sofa reading a comic book, and their family is happy and perfectly normal, except for-
Comic book!
Petunia’s eyes widened, looking both frightened and irritated by that weird, moving, bloody comic book series! She froze in place, not knowing what to do. Her husband was silently making excessive hand gestures from the small foyer, it absolutely must not be noticed by our guest! She walked over quickly, her long, stiff face mustered a smile as she attempted to shield Dudley behind her back – though it was useless; her son was at least twice her size and probably weighed three times as much as she did.
Felix handed over the gift box.
“Is that your child? He looks ‘exactly’ like your husband – what’s his name?”
“Yes, yes, Dud- Dudley – Dursley!” There was a tremor in Petunia’s voice. She found herself more desperate than she had ever been, even more desperate than she had been the other day when she had tidied the room and discovered her son’s little secret.
Dudley was very absorbed in his book.
The comic in his hand seemed to have magic powers, and every time he turned it over, he couldn’t help but read along to the end. At the moment he was watching it with great fascination – he didn’t have to hide now since he had been caught – and Mick the little wizard had accidentally blown up the birthday cake his friend had prepared for him, and he was trying a hundred times to find an excuse.
“What’s wrong?” He asked lazily, “Is it time for dinner?”
There was no immediate and enthusiastic response, which was unusual.
He looked up to find a young man sizing him up with interest, this person seemed somewhat familiar … For some reason, he thought of the ice rats from the wizarding world, a type of candy that the book stated came from the Honeydukes.
Mum had closed her eyes in horror and dared not look, and Dad – his face had turned into the colour of pig’s liver.
What was going on … Dudley suddenly stared at his book! He leaped up from the sofa with the effort of a beached whale, only to realize that it was a futile attempt; his body was so shock-absorbent that he was no different from a fish out of the water, and after two flops in place, he remained on the sofa that was making loud groans.
On the contrary, from the bounce, the book in his hand flew up.
Four pairs of eyes stared in unison as the comic book made a curve in mid-air and bounced off the guest’s exquisite shoes with great precision. The pages on it looked as if they were created with a dozen small thin screens attached on them, with all the characters on every screen moving around happily and showing their smiling faces.
After an unknown amount of time, Vernon finally came to life and stammered his way forward to explain.
“Hab, Hap, Mr. Hap, listen to me, this book, this book it-”
“No need to explain, I understand everything perfectly -” Felix said with a relaxed tone, but the three people in the room became even more alarmed, “No, no no, it has to be explained! It must be explained!” Vernon shouted, his arms spread wide, in the manner of blocking the door to keep him from leaving the room using his round body.
“I don’t think there is any need for that,” Felix said, shaking his head, “I am more than happy that readers are enjoying my books. I can’t imagine such a welcoming change happened only after a year of not seeing each other …”
“Readers?” Petunia asked in a hushed tone.
“Your book?” Vernon’s small eyes went wide.
“Haven’t seen each other for a year?” Dudley swallowed hard.
“Yeah, I thought you guys are aware of it,” Felix nudged his chin at the comic book on the floor, ” It got my name written on it.”
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