Chapter 17

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nSoon Professor Snape marched in, and with a wave of his wand the windows were closed, and the curtains shut, a gloomy, eerie atmosphere enveloped the classroom and the young wizards instantly became quiet.

nHermione immediately closed the book and concentrated on the lecture.

nAfter the Herbology class in the afternoon, the three of them were so tired and exhausted at the end they went hurriedly to the Great Hall for their open class. Four long tables had been moved to the corner, and in the middle, there is a round stage, about twenty feet in diameter and three feet high.

n“What’s all this for?” Ron asked.

n“Maybe it’s where the professor might stand? There’s a bit of a crowd here today.” Harry looked around the room, and goodness gracious, half the school is here, and there were also lots of little wizards from the first year.

nSo popular? Not another Lockhart, right? Harry mumbled silently.

nHarry is just thinking about it, but Ron had already spoken up, muttering, ” is it another Lockhart?”

n“No, I’ve been in contact with Professor Hap, and he’s very good at silent spells! And Professor Lockhart, he, he …” Hermione became stammering.

n“What spell?” Harry didn’t catch it.

n“A silent spell, some particularly powerful wizard who can cast all sorts of spells without having to chant them, and it’s particularly handy when casting vile jinx over others,” Ron explained.

nBoth dismissed the comments about Lockhart on the part of the girl.

nIs there any point in discussing that?

nHermione gave Ron a blank look.

nAnd Harry thought about it a little more, so this professor seemed to be okay? He is looking forward to the upcoming open class with a little more anticipation.

nNeither he nor Ron wanted to come, but what difference could it make to them? They had been dragged here by Hermione, who said, “Isn’t it necessary to know about an elective course in advance of the third year?”

nAnd Hermione wanted to see how well Felix could teach, but she had already read Felix’s Explorations in Ancient Magic Runes, which gave her a lot of confidence in the new professor.

nWell, as confident as she is in Professor Lockhart.

nAfter another ten minutes passed, during which some students arrived and a few professors also came to join in the fun, it seemed like this is not a class, but a big feast.

nHarry caught a glimpse of Lockhart and hastily ducked his head to avoid the sight of the ‘controversial’ professor.

nIt is never good to run into him!

nThe last few days had been miserable for him from three sources: Quidditch training, Lockhart, and that first-year student named Creevey.

nExcept for Quidditch, which was a painful, but enjoyable experience, he wanted to avoid the other two!

nAt the exact time, Felix appeared. He wore a light blue robe – the same colour as his eyes – with his hair pulled down slightly and with a smile on his face, he looked about 17 or 18 years old.

nVery much like Lockhart!

nMany of the younger students whispered in their minds – they were really scared by such an outfit.

nFelix made his way through the crowd and leaped gently up to the stage. With a wand in his hand, he looked around as the crowd settled down.

nHarry saw the professor draw a mysterious symbol with his wand and the next second the professor’s voice reached his ears, not too loud, but so clear that he seemed to be speaking right next to him.

n“We are officially starting the lesson.”

nFelix looked at the young wizards below the stage, “I am, Felix Hap, currently the professor of the course Ancient Runes.” He waved his wand and conjured up his name.

nImmediately afterward, he asked his first question.

n“Does anyone know anything about Ancient Runes?”

nSwipe!

nHermione raised her hand subconsciously, and before she could think about it, her body had moved on its own.

n“Miss Granger.” Felix nodded at her.

nHermione opened her mouth and said, “Ancient magic rune, also known as Ancient Runes, is a script that was used by wizards hundreds of years ago to record their magic and, as a result, modern wizards learn this for translation purpose. However, the ancient magic runes were also one of the sources of power for the ancient wizards.”

nThe last sentence was added after she had read Explorations of Ancient Magic Runes.

n“Very good, five points for Gryffindor.”

nFelix began to go over the history and evolution of the ancient runes, he pushed through them quickly, they weren’t important, or at least he didn’t think they were.

nThe young wizards won’t remember either.

n“All you need to remember is that the Ancient Magic Runes are a bridge that connects ancient magic to modern magic, and at the same time, it connects ancient alchemy to modern alchemy.”

nFelix nodded in satisfaction as he saw the young wizards murmuring from the stage.

n“But Professor, why is it that all we learn is how to translate ancient magic runes?” A senior girl from Ravenclaw asked, raising her hand.

nFelix looked at her, “There are two main reasons.”

n“The first reason is that translation is really the dominant view in the wizarding world at the moment.”

n“In my opinion, ancient runes can be divided into two, the ancient script and the magical script. The former is a language used by ancient wizards, and the latter is a power wielded by ancient wizards – only over the long change of time they have become intertwined with each other, making it difficult to distinguish between the latter.”

n“The former represents the mainstream view now, and they have made it their mission to inherit and study ancient runes for translating ancient grimoires, which is in fact very useful indeed, bearing in mind that most of our knowledge of ancient wizards has been gained by these people.”

n“It’s a route that is relatively easy to get in, and even now you can do it.”

n“But if you want to master the power of the ancient wizards directly through the ancient runes, it is very, very difficult and requires not only an excellent level of magic itself, but also an excellent research ability.”

nThe young wizards were confused, but they got a general idea. The advantage of this is that it’s easy to get started and requires little in the way of personal experience, even if you’re a dumb wizard. But it requires a lot of time to get your mind straight.

nThe magic world is full of old wizards who have been studying for decades and have finally confused themselves.

nThe other branch, which is based on mastering the powers of ancient wizards, is difficult to get into, so if you’re not talented academic, don’t even think about it.

nFelix paused for a moment to give the crowd time to digest before smiling and saying, “Back to the question we just got, as for the second reason – it’s because it’s not on the exam.”

nThe young wizards were suddenly speechless, this reason is a strong one.

n“But …” said Felix, “I personally think that allowing you to dabble a little in the practical application of ancient runes would be an effective way of stimulating your enthusiasm for this discipline.”

n“Are you going to teach us ancient magic?” One of the twins shouted.

nFelix shook his head, “No. Ancient magic is known to be powerful and difficult to tame, and I do not intend to teach you about it. Not to mention, my research in this area is just in its infancy.”

n“All right! This is the end of the theoretical part, and as this is an open class, I won’t go into too much professional knowledge -”

n“Next, it’s time for a demonstration.”

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