"I've never seen such a spectacular scene!" Fred came closer and said with a strange sense of satisfaction on his face.
Harry looked at the notice board and understood what he meant. The names of student clubs posted on it added up to more than a hundred, and most of them were established within a week. The students below were chattering non-stop. He heard Justin swear that he "saw a hundred kinds of snuff bottles." Harry searched the parchment and found a similar club as expected, but he was not sure whether it was "Muggle handicrafts" or "goblins' magical creations."
Two meters away from him, a Hufflepuff boy happily introduced magic paintings, "If you just make the things drawn on paper move, that's simple enough. It's just the basics of the basics. There are many more complicated ways. You can even interact with the people in it!"
"Isn't that a magic portrait? There are many hanging in the castle." His companion said.
"Of course it's different!" The boy blushed and raised his voice, "Think about it, there's a little man trapped in the maze. In order to avoid being eaten by a hundred skrewts, he can only rely on you to escape. You must use your brain to help the little man. If he comes out, he will cling to the canvas to express his gratitude to you..."
Harry listened for a while and found it very interesting, but he soon found that the boy began to invite the audience to join his "magic painting club". Harry opened his mouth in surprise.
At this time, Hermione came out of the crowd, beaming with joy.
"Success!" She said with a smile, "Three people are interested in joining SPEW, all freshmen. I didn't expect that the new students this year are so caring."
"Hermione, it is forbidden to abuse the power of prefects. This is what you told me." Ron said.
Hermione raised his eyebrows.
Ron curled his lips and said nothing. When Hermione turned around and joined the crowd again, he lowered his voice and said to Harry, "If it's not because of the prefect's power, it can only mean that the basic education of today's young wizards before entering school is not up to standard. They don't even know how to spell 'vomit'..."
In the corner, Felix and Snape stood together .
"I thought you wouldn't do such trivial things." Snape moved his lips, and the sound was confined to a small area, so that only the two of them could hear it.
"It's just a little help." Felix said, looking at the noisy students.
He felt that he had developed a strange habit after studying Dementors. He liked to stay in a positive and cheerful atmosphere. It was just a pity that halfway through the research, he didn't have enough Dementors. The specific process was that the last Dementor was starving and could not help but steal some of the emotions he had collected so hard, so Felix performed several destructive experiments on the Dementor...
While thinking about how to replenish the supply, he asked softly, "Is your part-time job stressful recently?"
Snape took a deep breath and said in an emotionless tone, "It's much easier than teaching a group of trolls."
"Oh," Felix counted the students of Gryffindor College in the crowd, understanding what he meant. "One, two, three, four..."
Snape turned his head and looked at him expressionlessly. Felix smacked his lips, "Fortunately, I don't have this problem. Both Slytherin and Gryffindor students performed well..." He paused and said, "Someone told me that the man who must not even be named has been very depressed recently. The Aurors of the Ministry of Magic are somewhat disappointed. You know, meaningless overtime is the most frustrating."
Snape did not speak.
His memory went back to more than half a month ago. After the battle in Hogsmeade, it wasn't long before he felt the Dark Mark on his arm getting hot. It was Voldemort calling him. Of course, he didn't leave immediately. This was a privilege given to him by Voldemort: because he was an undercover agent, he didn't have to respond immediately even if he was called.
So he pretended that nothing had happened and waited calmly until Dumbledore came back. Dumbledore showed him a dry hand and murmured how much time he had left. Snape wanted to punch Dumbledore's twisted nose.
Dumbledore was not injured at all. At least in Snape's opinion, what really needed to be concerned about was not the hand, but his suddenly younger face. But Snape was diverted after just two questions.
Snape knew what Dumbledore meant. He stared at the dry, charred, lifeless hand, memorized the picture deeply, imprinted it in his mind, and could freely combine it into the memory he wanted when needed.
That day, until the evening, the Dark Mark changed twice, each time more urgent than the last, and in the end, it even made him feel unbearable pain.
So Snape had to meet Voldemort a little earlier than expected. Before he left, he had thought of an excuse: Dumbledore ordered him to stay in the school, and he couldn't get away. But after the meeting, Voldemort didn't ask any relevant questions. He had never seen Voldemort lose his temper so much, and his red eyes seemed to be ready to bite someone.
Bellatrix, the key woman, the person Dumbledore asked him to pay attention to, was now staying with Voldemort, trembling with fear.
Voldemort asked him to go to a secret room on the eighth floor of the castle immediately after returning and retrieve a tattered crown. "A large cabinet full of sundries, splashed with strong acid, a bust of a wizard with a hood, a broken vanishing cabinet..." He described it in great detail, fearing that Snape would not be able to find it.
Snape agreed, even though he thought Voldemort would be disappointed.
Then Voldemort asked about Harry Potter's scar in detail, and Snape told him everything. Then he asked about Parseltongue. This secret was exposed as early as Harry's second year, and Snape did not hide anything. After the questioning, there was a long and suffocating silence. Bellatrix was motionless like a quail, maintaining ridiculous movements throughout the conversation.
Finally, Voldemort asked about Dumbledore's injury. According to Dumbledore's instructions, Snape described in detail every time he saw the headmaster from the beginning of the school to now. These scenes have one thing in common, that is, Dumbledore has been wearing gloves. Hearing this
, Voldemort's face was intertwined with a complex expression of annoyance and joy.
Then Snape was ordered to return to school immediately to confirm the situation of the crown. And he must report the news to him before dawn.
Snape thought Voldemort was crazy. He didn't seem to care whether he would be exposed as an undercover agent. But he still agreed. Snape returned to the school and appeared on the eighth floor like a ghost. Then he turned a corner and entered the principal's office. This was the life of a double undercover agent. Even reporting took twice as long.
He met Voldemort again when he thought the time was almost up.
This time the meeting place was changed to the old house of August Rookwood. This "loyal" Death Eater was currently imprisoned in Azkaban, so his home was unceremoniously occupied by Voldemort. Voldemort was still accompanied by Bellatrix. It seemed that Voldemort intended to keep her with him.
Snape calmly reported the information he had gathered. The crown was naturally lost. Voldemort was furious. Even the word "furious" seemed too light. He walked back and forth in the dim room, and the snakewood staff in his hand made a hissing sound. Voldemort cursed Dumbledore loudly, using almost all the vicious words he could think of.
From his mouth came out completely opposite orders.
He first asked Snape to poison Dumbledore's chance to heal his wounds with a vicious look on his face. "Let Dumbledore die, die!" Voldemort roared wildly, but it didn't take long for him to reject this idea. "Go investigate the whereabouts of the crown," he gritted his teeth and said, "We must find out whether it is destroyed or hidden... If necessary, you can break into the principal's office. No, wait for my news..."
"I will arrange for spies from the Ministry of Magic to cooperate with your actions."
But after half a month, Voldemort seemed to be dead and there was no news at all. Snape didn't know who the spy Voldemort was talking about. Would that person not come?
In the following days, Hogwarts was shrouded in a restless atmosphere.
Although there were still a few days to the last weekend of November, the students could not wait to start taking action. They often took the opportunity of different colleges taking classes together to recruit members for their clubs.
According to Felix's observation, Gryffindor and Slytherin had basically no interaction, but they all chose students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff to start with.
Even when he went out for a walk, he could see students from different colleges gathering together and whispering.
But he didn't expect that there were students who would set their sights on him.
"Hi, Felix." Luna hid behind a suit of armor and peeked around. When she saw him, she jumped out excitedly.
Felix walked over, "Luna?" He looked at her in surprise. Not far from them, a group of girls were hiding behind a pillar and looking over here.
"It's like this," Luna said seriously, "I want to invite you to join my club."
"Your club is" "
'The Snorlax Must Exist' Club."
"Uh," Felix paused and asked tentatively, "Can't you recruit anyone and want to find me to make up the number? It's not impossible, but I'm a professor after all. I recommend Valen..."
"Oh, no, I've already got three people." Luna said happily, "But if you gather students from four colleges plus a professor, you can carve the name of the club on the candles in the auditorium. First come, first served. I have to hurry." Felix was a little
absent-minded, "Why didn't I know about this?"
"This is a hidden clue." Luna said.
It must be gossip, Felix thought to himself. He should have expected it. With the nature of Hogwarts students, all kinds of reliable and unreliable rumors would definitely spread. He just didn't expect that Luna would be the one who got caught. He glanced at the students in the corner. It was probably instigated by them.
Felix thought for a moment and said in a low voice, "Since you have discovered it, okay, I agree. Don't tell anyone else."
After he left, Luna was immediately surrounded by a group of girls chattering.
"How is it, did it succeed?"
Luna nodded.
"Is the news true?" a girl asked.
"The professor won't let me say it." Luna answered blankly.
"Oh..." The girls looked at each other meaningfully. It seemed to be true. They dragged out their voices and dispersed. I don't know which professor they went to find.
Felix returned to the office and thought about making a portable Dementor catching cage. When the time comes, he can sell it to the Ministry of Magic and use the Dementors to pay off the debt. He sat on the sofa in a daze for a long time. He looked up and saw Valen sitting opposite him with "A New Interpretation of Magic Runes" and flipping through the pages quickly.
This subject magazine was printed by Luna's father, Xenophilius Lovegood. He would send Felix a sample issue every month, and also a complete set of "The Quibbler" for that month.
The Quibbler is a typical wizard tabloid. Although its circulation is not high, it is not lacking in readers. According to Felix's understanding, although Luna flatly denies it, the positioning of this newspaper is similar to entertainment news. It contains various hilarious conspiracy theories and discussions about virtual creatures.
Of course, serious topics are discussed seriously sometimes, but the conclusions are often incredible. Felix has published several short essays anonymously on it, imagining the future wizard society. One of them is about the exploration of Mars:
"A wizard is going to Mars to grow vegetables in a Muggle-made aircraft. He was stopped for using the traceless extension spell to carry 300 Muggles to smuggle. The Ministry of Magic and the Muggle government claim that they will amend the law to prohibit the carrying of all opaque containers. As a result, hot water kettles on Mars have become a rare resource..."
The response was tepid.
Luna's father, however, wrote a short story in a similar format: a fortune teller traveled to Mars, but because the "aura" of Mars was too strong, he could not make predictions, resulting in the fortune teller being accidentally hit by a meteorite while flying on a broom.
This story has become the latest popular joke in the wizarding world. Given the closed-off nature of the wizarding world, it is estimated that it will not become outdated even after being circulated for a hundred years...
Valen is not interested in the awkward theories in "A New Interpretation of Magical Runes", but he likes to find the names of acquaintances in it. While flipping through it, he took out his precious wand and wrote and drew in the air. Soon, the office was full of crooked letters. Felix felt dizzy. He stretched out his hand and pinched the words in the air together to form a glowing ball.
Valen shouted in dissatisfaction.
Felix threw the ball to Valen, who angrily threw it back to him. Soon, the big and the small were happily playing this interesting (boring) little game.
Before going to bed, Felix suddenly remembered to write a letter to his new pen pal who lived in Nurmengard Castle .
"…
This is not a question of courage, nor is it about laziness, but a question of the brain. Even if I were born in your era, I would not choose to be enemies with 600,000 wizards and 2 billion ordinary people. In my opinion, slavery is the most time-consuming and laborious method, not to mention that the population of both sides has almost tripled.
Speaking of doubling, I suddenly remembered a question about the expansion spell. I have a colleague who grows very special pumpkins, um, very large... Do you think that eating this kind of spell-cast pumpkin for a long time will cause malnutrition? Or will it cause harm to the soil?
I think this topic is more valuable and can be classified as a Muggle research field.
...
Enclosed with this letter are two political books, as well as the excellent newspaper "Singing the Quibbler" that I strongly recommend. It sells more than 500 copies a day and is worth reading."
After writing the letter, Felix raised his head and straightened his back. Valen, who was lying on the opposite side of the desk, immediately closed his diary and looked at him vigilantly.
Felix curled his lips, wondering which unlucky person in the school was defeated by Valen this time. Unfortunately, he only saw two names, one was Astoria, and the other was Mafalda...