Chapter 615: Hap’s Admirer
Felix stroked the Annals of Ancient Rune in his hand. The letters ‘1992-1996 Collection’ are printed in gold print at the bottom of the cover, this book is considered to be the first comprehensive and systematic compilation about the development of practical ancient runes, and its contents are particularly informative because it is the first of its kind.
The contents of the book are divided into three parts.
“In a nutshell, it is a compilation of the past, present, and future aspects of the ancient practical rune discipline.”
Felix flipped to the first page, and the preface section briefly described the time, place, and origin of the event, followed by a long list of names, each on a separate line, with an additional brief summary of basic information about the person in small Italic letters.
For example, Hermione Granger is written in bright emerald green ink, and below her name is a single entry – Female, Hogwarts (at school), 16, 27.
“Gender, school, age … I understand all that, but what does this mean?”
Mrs. Granger asked, pointing to the number ’27’, Hermione glanced forwards and said, “That’s the number of theses cited in the Almanac, it’s highlighted with an asterisk at the bottom.”
“The number of theses cited?” Mrs. Granger blinked in confusion as she looked down and found the note at the bottom of the page, “… Because the Almanac is being compiled for the first time, it specifically covers the number of theses published between 1992 and 1996 and cited in this book.”
She felt even more confused. It wasn’t that she couldn’t read the text, but – “You published 27 papers?”
She and her husband exchanged glances, and Mr. Granger asked with interest, “I haven’t had time to ask – the number I read in the Daily Prophet was 42, but our bright and rebellious daughter once told her parents that it would be nice if a third of what was written there could be credible …”
Hermione rolled her eyes.
“I was talking about the predictions of the war situations, it’s not like you don’t know how many rumours I’ve debunked … The numbers are true, both of them. It is just that one is the total number of papers I have published and the other only counts the part of the ancient rune field.”
“It says ‘published and cited in this book’ …” Mrs. Granger inquired hesitantly.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Not all published papers will be cited, and articles of an overview nature, for example, won’t be too welcome, because that’s what the Almanac is meant to do, and do it a lot better: summarize the past, examine the present, and think about the future.”
“Something like the Medical Almanacs I’ve read.” Mr. Granger commented with interest.
“Pretty much.” Hermione said.
Mrs. Granger settled on this page and her eyes kept darting around, searching for names she was familiar with, “Harry Potter, citing six papers, Ron Weasley …4, Huh? Luna Lovegood, she’s only fifteen and the number of papers cited is 5 …”
“She writes a lot.” Hermione grunted softly.
“What’s the matter,” Mrs. Granger asked with a smirk, “this ‘Miss Love and Good’ is your rival at school?”
“Not at all!” Hermione reddened, but her mother laughed even more heartily, she huffed and walked over to the thick almanac, flipping the pages open and mumbling under her breath, “You should really read it… The first part of the book summarizes important current events, thesis publications, and statistics, and I remember that there are excerpts from three of her papers … Ah, here it is!”
Mrs. Granger looked curiously at the titles of the dissertation above.
“Replicating the Mysterious Creature Crumple-Horned Snorkack with Ancient Rune … sounds quite professional.”
Hermione pointed to the small print on it, “This thesis is unproven and limited to conjecture, but it is highly innovative and has great potential to be explored … Mr. Hap has rated it highly …” She read it with a pout.
“Isn’t this just a magic conjecture? I don’t really understand it … It is roughly similar to scientific conjecture, isn’t it?” Mr. Granger asked with a smile.
“Well, I just …” Hermione deflated, she couldn’t help but whine, “Even if it is a magical creature, why the imaginary Crumple-Horned Snorkack? Obviously, the subject is so grand, covering magical creatures, ancient runes, Patronus charm, and even ghosts …”
“Ghosts?”
…
“No, it’s spirits!” On the hill outside the village of Ottery St Catchpole, a big rook-like house stood. In the garden, Xenophilius said. Cotton-candy-like white hair puffed over his shoulders, and he displayed a gold chain around his neck: “What a wonderful coincidence! I am wearing the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, and my daughter told me about the prophecy of the Resurrection Stone.”
“Have you stopped studying worker gnome magic, Papa?” Luna asked while repairing the house for the gnomes.
“Oh no … there is something more important,” Xenophilius stammered, “Luna, listen to me – I don’t know much about the Centaur, at one point I tried to befriend them but they kicked me out, but that doesn’t matter, it’s all in the youth … their prophecies are great.”
“That’s right, I’ve been looking forward to a grand party.” Luna said cheerfully.
“A party?” Xenophilius was confused.
“I saw it in a fire divination, with lots of people shooting fireworks into the sky …” Luna shook her head like she was dreaming. “Oh, uh,” Xenophilius stared, “could it have happened? I’ve heard of people creating meteor showers … to celebrate the victory in hardcore fashion”
“But they’re totally different, and I think I’ll be there.” Luna said expectantly.
“Well … let’s get back to the main topic, Luna.” Xenophilius said seriously.
Luna nodded and stared unblinkingly at her father, the triangular eye symbol adorned around his neck sparkled on his chest.
“First of all, this needs to be kept secret-”
“Can I tell Ginny?”
“Of course, you can, you’re friends.”
“What about Harry? And Ron, Hermione, Neville …” Luna snapped her fingers and Xenophilius said, “If they’re trustworthy – yes, you could even form a small team, but don’t be too flashy, I don’t want to hear that my daughter is making a big fuss about finding the Resurrection Stone, some wishes won’t work when they are spoken.”
He hesitated, “Honestly, I don’t know if I should tell you, there’s not much hope after all …”
“What is it?”
“Headmaster Dumbledore wrote me back and invited me for an interview … Oh no no, don’t be so happy, there are other competitors.” But it didn’t take long for them to start preparing for the celebration, “Freshwater Plimpy fish soup! Cranberry! Dirigible Plum!” Xenophilius shouted happily as he added various ingredients to the pot.
They eventually obtained a cup of some condensed thing.
“Don’t mind me, you have an interview to attend.” Luna said.
“Oh, thank you, daughter,” Xenophilius wiped the corners of his eyes, “I won’t leave you alone, when the interview is done, I’ll take you to visit a very knowledgeable ghost, who might be interested in your thesis … ” he said and drank it all in one go.
“How does it taste?” Luna asked curiously.
“Not bad,” Xenophilius said, shaking his head and smacking his lips, “Maybe too much Dirigible Plum, the book says it’s slightly toxic, although you can’t believe the whole thing, as they also enhance the ability to accept the extraordinary, but … ”
He rubbed his stomach and brought the ‘Almanac of Ancient Rune’ over, “Let me see what they say about your thesis, I should pick the highlights and jot them down to ask Dumbledore about it when the time comes … ” He flipped through the pages, “Huh, where is it? Only the introduction about magic doll maker, prank merchant …”
“You flipped past it, Papa.” Luna said.
“No, I think it’s fate, you see -” he said, pointing to the introduction to the chapter on magic doll maker, “The ‘magic doll’ is just a concept, and I don’t want people to focus only on the materials it’s made of and the way it’s made of, it can be anything that uses magic to assist us in our work, our lives and our studies … Look at that.”
Not far from here, over a hill, the Diggory’s house stood close to the Weasleys’ Burrow, only a few hundred feet away from each other. The Diggorys had moved here as a result of the war and to look out for each other if Death Eaters attacked.
“Your boy is excellent, Mr. Diggory.”
Cho Chang’s father’s compliments and Mr. Diggory’s hearty laugh were heard from the lovely, well-maintained house.
Cedric and Cho Chang couldn’t take the scrutiny and atmosphere in the house, so they ran out for air, and the pair whispered as they walked.
“They’re really … pushy,” Cho Chang said in exasperation. She looked at Cedric and asked hesitantly, “Are you … really not planning to join the Ministry of Magic anymore?” Cedric shook his head slightly, “I’ve rented a shop in Diagon Alley.”
“Diagon Alley?” Cho Chang said with some disappointment, “I thought you’d choose Hogsmeade.” She still has one year to graduate.
Cedric had a big smile on his face, “Don’t worry, I won’t forget Hogsmeade weekend, I chose Diagon Alley because Fred, George, and also Sword Castle are all there, and it’s easy to do research … Do you remember the disposable space capsules? I think it has a lot of potentials, and it matches my magic dolls.”
They walked into a discarded garage.
Fred and George were crouched on the floor studying something, “Why are they here, didn’t you mention they were busy opening a branch?” Cho Chang asked in a whisper. “Caught back by Mrs. Weasley.” Cedric whispered in a similar tone.
The twins with their backs to them looked up, “I think I heard someone bad-mouthing us.”
“I’m just telling the truth …,” Cedric shrugged, “How’s the Puffskein breeding going?”
“Everything’s going well, except it’s getting dumber.” Fred said with a sigh.
“Maybe it’s a plus, you know, witches like silly things.” George said and Cho Chang glared at him. “Oh, sorry, I meant pets.” It didn’t take long for Cho Chang’s arms and shoulders to be occupied by pale pink and purple fluffy little balls that twittered and, as Fred and George had said, they didn’t look very bright.
George gave Cedric a look that meant: Look, I was right.
Cedric smiled from ear to ear.
“Ginny loves these little guys too.” Fred said, “How’s the new shop?”
“Opening in a few days,” Cedric said, “I’ve made a kind of transfiguration cloud of smoke, in addition to some of the previous finished products.”
“Take it out for a look!” Fred and George said in unison.
Cedric pulled a teacup out of his pocket and shook it vigorously for a while, then he tilted the cup, and a cloud of smoke that looked like some kind of liquid poured out, it looked like some kind of growing crystal cloud that spread across the workbench.
“They’re actually a single object, and you’ll find it easier to cast Transfiguration on them, like this.”
Cedric waved his wand and the crystal cluster-like smoke easily gathered into various shapes. “With some degree of intensity, you can turn it into a chair, an emergency tent, or various small animals that even a first or second-grader could easily control.”
Eventually, they saw a lifelike Hogwarts castle.
“Transfiguration requires a good understanding of what is to be transformed, and this smoke could help in that.” Cedric said hesitantly, “So it’s actually a tool for learning Transfiguration.”
“It could be more than that,” Fred said as he leaned on Cedric’s shoulder, “It’s pretty versatile …”
…
Evening at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Felix sat in the dimly lit auditorium and listened to a piano recital.
François Crutoy had performed flawlessly, and when the curtain call salute came, the auditorium thundered with applause. Despite his calm face, he was already moved to tears. As the audience filed out, they were still immersed in the mood created by the sound of the piano.
Camera flashes illuminated the stage and the microphone was handed up.
“Mr. Crutoy, can I ask what both the goddess and the angel in your tune are referring to? Or is it your yearning for a better life?”
“Do you have a new understanding of religion?”
Crutoy narrowed his eyes slightly as he seemed to see a familiar face below the stage, and Felix smiled at him.
“Mr. Crutoy?”
“Oh,” Crutoy stared at the empty seats, thoughtfully, “both tunes refer to the same thing, if I had to name a difference, perhaps one is what one sees and the other is what one imagines.”
“When sorrow comes, may we each meet an angel.”
…
Harry received the list of additional books and the Quidditch team captain’s badge that came with the envelope in time for the new school year in the last week of the holiday, and Harry looked at it repeatedly for a while with great excitement.
“Is there anything you need to buy?” Sirius asked. “Yes!” Harry stared down at the list of books and read it twice over before saying in surprise, “Sixth Year Defence Against the Dark Arts: Confronting the Faceless-”
“Ah, that book is quite famous.” Sirius said.
“And-” Harry gulped.
“And what else?” Sirius looked up in confusion.
“There are three more books, The History of the Muggle Struggle: from a Million Years Ago, How Muggles Think, and The ‘Magic’ of the Muggle World.”
“To be sure, there is no mistake right?” Sirius almost fell out of his chair.
“Nope.” Harry said.
Sirius rubbed his chin, “Sounds like that new professor is a mad admirer of Felix.”
————-
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