"I can't believe you kept it a secret from us!" Hermione said indignantly. They had already walked out of the castle, turned a corner in front of Hagrid's hut and turned into the forbidden forest, but she was still a little indignant.

"Hermione, you were having a quarrel at the time - but, man, you didn't even tell me, we could have put on the Invisibility Cloak." Harry couldn't help but complain.

"I thought... if it failed, just pretend nothing happened." Ron hesitated, his eyes looking away unnaturally, "I guess Malfoy thought the same thing... Hermione, thank you for the white fresh essence."

The lump on his face looked less obvious.

"That was prepared for Harry to practice Apparition!" Hermione snorted.

"But Malfoy actually succeeded," Ron said, "I always thought he would just cry for his mother, or a jumping big ferret..."

Hermione thought it was normal.

"He's always had good grades, and his scores on the 'Answer Parchment' are among the best, but you just never pay attention to him."

"Really?" Ron smacked his lips. "I didn't know you would pay attention to people who rank lower than you. That's a long list of names..."

Harry couldn't help but grin.

They walked into the Forbidden Forest, and the light suddenly dimmed, as if it was evening. There were all kinds of small noises in the forest. They were going to find a place nearby to practice Apparition. According to Harry, he could already walk out of the "house".

Ron picked a purple berry and asked, "Can this thing be eaten?"

"Yes," Hermione glanced at it, "Except that it's a little-"

"Puh!" Ron had already taken a bite and showed a bitter face, "It's really bitter!"

"... Bitter taste, it seems you already know it." Hermione said with a smile, and Harry quickly retracted his hand that was reaching for the branch.

They soon found a familiar path and trudged to an open space -

"This place looks familiar to me." Harry looked around, his eyes sliding over the scattered stones several times.

"Yeah," Hermione pointed to a big tree, "Remember? We spied on Professor Happ practicing Apparition behind that tree... I quietly asked Hagrid, there are no nests of dangerous creatures near this forest. However, we still have to take some precautions -"

She walked around with her wand, muttering to herself.

"Safeguard... All Protection... Muggle Shielding... Burglar Sense... Screech... Transfiguration Guard... I say, if you don't mind, you can help a little..."

"We only know the first three spells." Harry and Ron looked at each other and got busy. "That's what Professor Belby taught us, the topic of outdoor safety... What are the others?"

"Oh," Hermione patted her head, "The Burglar Sense Charm can detect magical disguises, and Screech is a kind of warning spell. It will make a piercing sound when someone breaks in... As for the Transfiguration Guard," she paused and said with a smile, "Don't you think they are cute?"

Harry and Ron squatted down and looked at things that looked like peanuts - their bodies were made of two little people made of stones. They must have used Transfiguration. They had no feet, but they were jumping around.

Ron stretched out his hand and flicked a Transfiguration Guard two feet away.

"A bit like a tumbler," Harry commented, looking up and asking, "What are they used for?"

"They are sensitive to magic and can detect things we can't see in advance," said Hermione. "By the way, this is Professor Hep's magic."

"Really well prepared," Ron whispered, "I finally know why she didn't stop us from breaking the school rules. If I also learned so much magic, I would definitely find an opportunity to use it, otherwise it would be a pity, right?"

In the evening.

Felix was making a spyglass in the office, with tiny parts scattered on the workbench.

He carefully extracted a wisp of magic from a business card, which was given to him by Mr. Finch-Fletchley. Then he picked up a gem the size of a fingernail and integrated the magic wrapped around his finger into it.

"The most important step is completed, then-Valen, I haven't heard the sound of reading for a long time."

He said without raising his head. The sniffing Valen beside him was sitting on a large book, dozing off. Under his butt was a literacy book used by Muggles, with various illustrations on it.

Hearing Felix's words, Valen cried out in dissatisfaction, walked up to him with great momentum, and kept poking his arm with his pink little hands.

It couldn't stand it anymore, it couldn't stand it anymore! Why teach a Niffler to read?

It had never heard of such a ridiculous thing.

For itself, and for the possible victims in the future, it wanted to protest to the big devil on behalf of the Nifflers, no, on behalf of all magical animals!

"Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!"

A gold Galleon was handed to it, and Valen was stunned for a moment, and instinctively put it in his pocket.

"After receiving the money, we have to do the work, we agreed." Felix pointed at it with his finger.

"Gah--"

Valen opened his mouth wide, and the pink beak like a duck opened and closed weakly.

It walked back dejectedly, turned to the next page with its flexible toes, sat on it dejectedly and stared at a picture of a motorcycle. Within a minute, its eyelids drooped...

Hermione's appearance saved it. When she came in, the Niffler jumped down from the workbench, took a funny step, and threw himself into Hermione's arms.

"Oh... Valen? What's wrong? You are too enthusiastic..." She looked at the Niffler somewhat at a loss. It seemed to have suffered some injustice, pointing at the sky and the ground, and not forgetting to point at the professor and a literacy book on the table.

"Are you learning to read?" Hermione felt a sense of freshness in her heart, "I read a similar book when I was three years old."

"Chirp! Chirp!"

The Niffler pointed at Felix and hummed continuously.

"Uh..."

"It said that it has never met a human as cunning as me. It wants to run away from home and follow you." Felix said with his head down, putting the remaining parts of the peephole together.

Hermione blinked and looked down at the Niffler.

The Niffler nodded angrily. Yes, that's it!

It wants to break into a new world and create a big treasure trove. Sooner or later, it will make the fifth college appear in Hogwarts.

"Okay, it's done." Felix stood up with a walnut-sized peephole in his hand. Before Hermione could see clearly, he had raised his ebony wand and a silver swift patronus flew out from the tip of the wand.

The swift was as big as an owl and hung quietly in the air. Felix threw the peephole in his hand and it swallowed it.

"Go, find the person. Don't let him find you." Felix said calmly.

Hermione watched the swift disappear from the window curiously and blend into the black night, wondering who the professor wanted to find.

...

"So, you are worried that you got the invitation card by cheating?"

Hermione nodded. At this time, they were sitting on the sofa. She held a box of egg custard biscuits in her hand, feeding Sniff, while looking at Professor Hep across from her worriedly.

This matter has been bothering her, especially after Ron got the invitation card in a "normal" way.

Felix remained noncommittal, "Why do you say it's cheating?"

"I violated the purpose of the test," Hermione said sadly, "I simply cannot face the fear deep in my heart. Perhaps among these warrior candidates, I am the worst one."

Felix chuckled, "Granger, you and students below the sixth grade are not trained to be warriors. You cannot be considered warrior candidates. You are only more valuable because you are younger."

Hermione looked at him in confusion.

"Let me put it this way, Miss Granger," Felix said, "Principal Dumbledore, I, and many professors all think that it is a waste to exclude lower-year students from the tournament, but we can't really let you participate in the competition. So we came up with this compromise to increase your sense of participation."

"Increase our sense of participation?" Hermione repeated, "So you don't mind us cheating?"

"You misunderstood. I never said that there is only one way to deal with fear. Did you see the words on the stone tablet? Courage, wisdom, tenacity, and calmness. This means... there are at least four ways."

Felix said gently, leaning back on the sofa, looking at her thoughtfully.

"You have done at least two things, which I had never expected. First, you vaguely saw through the illusion, which may be related to your frequent contact with magic related to the Mind Hut, so you are not easily confused. Second, you used this ability and borrowed the power of the illusion to cast the ancient magic golden flame that I taught you. This is not something that ordinary people can do."

"I have discussed this issue with Dumbledore before."

"How do you know--" Hermione looked at him in surprise.

"If you really used the golden flame, you might have destroyed the place." Felix smiled, "But this shows that your understanding of this magic has reached a passing level and you can try to use it in reality."

"Now?" Hermione asked excitedly.

Felix looked at her expectantly.

"Oh, uh... okay." Hermione sat up straight, cleared her throat, and chanted a string of ancient spells. Then a ball of light burst out from her fingertips, and magic symbols appeared in the air one after another, forming a whole.

"Swish!"

A ball of golden flame appeared out of thin air, burning quietly, looking peaceful and distant.

"You can take your hand away," Felix said, and Hermione did so. The flame was still suspended in the air, and the air around it was trembling slightly. Under her control, the flame was stretched into various shapes, and accidentally pierced a high-heeled glass with a burning hole.

"You need to strengthen your control, Granger. You have always been good at this, but not good enough. You have to let the flame move according to your will, like this."

Felix said, his palm passed through the golden flame, and a small golden flame was stuck on the tip of his index finger.

Hermione's eyes widened.

"Is it amazing? Actually not at all, you haven't discovered the true characteristics of this magic. It is not a particularly explosive magic, otherwise I would not teach you..."

...

In the new week, Felix became busy.

After class at noon, he took the time to go to classroom 7, wrote down the name on the stone tablet, and handed it to Professor McGonagall.

When she saw the list of candidates, McGonagall was surprised: "There is also a second-year student?"

"Yeah, I didn't expect it either." Felix said, "Unless she has a very deep and positive understanding of fear itself..."

"What are you going to do, Felix?"

Felix had a headache, "I'll discuss it with Severus. After all, she is a student of Slytherin College. It seems that she has a sister in the same college..."

"I'll talk to Severus." Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and said seriously, "No matter what, I will not agree to let the second-year students participate. We have discussed the training plan. To be honest, I think it is too radical. Even those fourth-year students..."

"Minerva, fourth-year students are not young. They are generally fourteen or fifteen years old. They are the most eager for honor. If they are persuaded to withdraw, someone might secretly send us a Howler letter." Felix said jokingly. "

...Okay, since you and Professor Moody said so, and Albus doesn't object."

Professor McGonagall didn't insist any more. These issues had been discussed more than once in the meeting before. She actually agreed. Now she just complained a few words. She changed the subject -

"Congratulations, Felix, Remus has got a big order."