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nThe office of the Professor of Ancient Magic Runes.

nFelix had finished his work for the day. He had three classes today, but half of them were allocated to tests, which he termed as ” a way to keep track of the students’ learning “, a term used in his previous life, called ” Diagnostic Assessment “.

nDiagnostic assessment is defined as an evaluation of a student’s current level of progress at the beginning of a term or a semester.

nIt is quite apt for this purpose.

nThe other half of the class is spent reviewing what has been taught. This was a huge disappointment for the young wizards, who thought they would have the opportunity to continue the magic golem battle.

nLuckily, the professor told them that they would see them in his next class and there is an extra reward for their good conduct.

nFelix watching a film in his office, and as he watched it with great attention.

nThump, thump, thump!

nA quick knock on the door interrupted his entertainment time, and he opened it to see an out-of-breath Hermione.

n“Professor … sorry, I … phew … I fell asleep and missed the… …time!”

nHermione’s chest rose and fell violently, her face suffocating and a thin layer of sweat dampening her hair.

nLooking at the young witch’s desperate look, Felix told her to take it easy and led her into the office.

n“Please sit down.”

nHermione sat down obediently and, as in hindsight, noticed the film being projected on the wall in front of her.

nShe swung her head from side to side and quickly saw a projector.

nHermione became a little confused, am I still awake? Aren’t muggle items unusable at Hogwarts?

nBut she didn’t dare to move, so she could only watch the projection, and after a few minutes of watching it, she found that, eh, it is quite good.

nThe film is about a princess who visits Rome and accidentally meets a journalist. You could tell the film was a bit old, but the story is so well-told that you couldn’t help but get immersed in it.

nJust in time to see a sequence where the princess smashes a violin over the jerk’s head.

nHermione couldn’t help but laugh.

nThen she heard the footsteps and immediately curbed her smile and sat upright.

nFelix had a drink in his hand and handed it to her, “It’s butterbeer, I’ve added a little Invigoration and a Sleeping Draught, they’ll give a little helllow you to sleep well when you get back.”

n“Thanks, Professor Hap.” Hermione took a sip, it tasted a little odd but not unpleasant. She found her spirit lifted and the exhaustion of the past week swept away.

nRemembering what she is here for, she quickly opened her book bag, pulled out seven sheets of parchment, and handed them to Felix, “Professor, here is my thesis.”

nFelix took the thesis and read it while he waved his wand without looking up and several plates of small snacks flew to Hermione, “You can eat and watch a film first, you probably haven’t had time for entertainment these days.”

nHearing Felix’s words, she realized with a jolt that she had once again missed her supper and at the moment every cell in her body is complaining to her.

nShe flushed slightly and took small bites of the snack, glancing now and then at the professor who is now concentrating on her thesis, and quietly speeding up as she saw that he had no intention whatsoever to look up.

nBefore she knew it, she had finished her butterbeer and eaten all three plates of snacks, and the film had come to an end.

nThe feeling of fullness made Hermione’s mood pleasant again.

nShe craned her head to look at the professor and found that he had finished reading her thesis and now in the middle of reading a book with great interest.

n“Professor, I’m sorry …”

nFelix looked up with a smile in his eyes, “I thought you quite liked the film.”

nHermione: “…”

n“Well, let’s talk about your thesis.” Afraid of the little girl’s thin skin, Felix hurriedly changed the subject as he picked up Hermione’s thesis and praised her, “A very excellent thesis.”

n“Logical, smoothly written, and with references to eighteen books, every supporting evidence is just right …”

nHermione hung her head, a little embarrassed by the compliment.

n“Congratulations, you are now my assistant.” Felix stood up and walked over to her.

nHermione’s eyes blossomed with a radiant glow, “Really? Ah! Professor, I’m, I’m so excited.”

n“You deserve it,” Felix said gently, “You’ve worked so hard for this, far beyond my expectations, to be honest.”

nHermione wanted to cry, she had a tough week.

n“As my assistant, you are bound to put some extra time aside in the future …”

n“Professor, I’ll try!”

n“No no, you misunderstood me,” Felix smiled, “something has to be given when something has been taken. For that reason -”

n“Gryffindor plus fifty points, each term.”

n…

nHermione returned to the common room a little dazed, Harry and Ron were playing wizard’s chess and the twins were curled up in the corner with a piece of parchment in their hands, muttering something.

nA number of the young wizards looked up when they saw Hermione enter, the gossip travelled fastest, and they already knew that Hermione is likely to be that new professor’s assistant.

nAnd Felix, who had just finished his Open Class, is now in the limelight.

nHarry hurriedly leaped to his feet, and casually brushed the chess pieces aside, “Hermione, how did it go?”

n“Hey! I’m about to take the general.” Ron muttered in displeasure, though his mind isn’t on the board either.

n“I did it,” Hermione announced the result straight away.

n“Yoo-hoo! Hooray for Gryffindor’s Miss Know-it-all! She’s become the youngest teaching assistant at Hogwarts!” The twins cheered, and they both put their hands behind their backs as they scurried around the common room in a mock aeroplane stance.

nA few fireworks went off with a bang and the common room is in a sea of joy as the young wizards came together to give their blessings to Hermione, ignoring her whispered explanation that “she isn’t a teaching assistant, but an assistant”.

nThe twins quietly disappeared for a while, bringing back a large bag of all kinds of food to add to the joyful atmosphere in the common room.

nHalfway through, they brought Professor McGonagall to the table, who pursed her lips and seemed to be wondering how many points to deduct from the Gryffindor.

n“Professor McGonagall, we’re celebrating Hermione becoming a teaching assistant.” The twins hurried to explain.

nProfessor McGonagall gave Hermione a quick glance and couldn’t help but smile when she saw her nod. “That would be fine … but … you guys need to keep your voices down too.” Professor McGonagall quickly compromised.

n“This is your thesis?” Professor McGonagall looked over from the cheering crowd to the parchment in Hermione’s hand.

n“Yes, Professor McGonagall.”

nMcGonagall picked up the parchment and counted the number of sheets in surprise before quickly reading it.

nIt had both Hermione’s original text and the annotations added by Felix.

nProfessor McGonagall flipped through it quickly at first, but soon slowed down. Although Hermione’s paper is more akin to some sort of overview, it still is very concise and clear, nearly recapping the entire development of the ancient magic runes.

nBasically, anyone who read this thesis of Hermione’s would have a more comprehensive understanding of ancient runes.

n“A very brilliant paper, I think it qualifies for publication in a magazine.”

n” I’m still a long way off, Professor Hap has helped me revise a lot of it,” Hermione whispered.

nProfessor McGonagall also felt a little speechless; in her eyes, Hermione’s thesis is already very good, but the fact that Felix had managed to come up with more corrections showed how accomplished the brilliant graduate is at ancient runes.

nFelix’s comments, however, were not so much a fault-finding remark as a remark along the lines of “Suggest reading page 172-174 of the History of Ancient Magic Runes to deepen your understanding”, which in fact meant that Hermione had not thought deeply enough.

n“He’s too harsh.” Even Professor McGonagall, who is known for her harshness, couldn’t help but side with Hermione.

n“Professor Hap considers me as qualified, and his annotations are what I’m going to do in the next stage,” Hermione explained.

nProfessor McGonagall nodded at this and looked at the thesis, the more she looked at it, the more she loved it.

n“Tell you what, when you’ve revised your thesis according to Professor Hap’s annotations, I’ll pass it on to a friend of mine for you, it might have a chance of being published.”

nThe young witch looked like she is worshipping the big shot.

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