Chapter 609 A Welcome Change

Professor McGonagall was completely confused by the two people's cheerful conversation. She snorted in dissatisfaction and spoke in a harsh tone.

"So, I won't have the honor of witnessing the fight between colleagues?"

"Minerva," Felix said with a smile, "There is a small misunderstanding between me... Mr. Bagshot, which stems from my vague understanding of his position... But now, I am beginning to look forward to working with him."

Professor McGonagall showed a skeptical expression.

"Did you know each other before?"

"Only through letters," Grindelwald said calmly, "I wanted to keep the surprise until the first day of school." He tapped the ground with his cane, "Sometimes you have to admit that the elderly have better patience."

"I think it's just the opposite." Felix said gently but sharply.

Professor McGonagall tightened her lips, "To be honest, we'd better - well, Mr. Bagshot, please follow me -" Grindelwald nodded to Felix and followed her away. When the two passed by, Valen, who was hiding on Felix's shoulder, jumped out, one hand on his waist, the other pointing at him, gesturing indignantly.

Grindelwald's footsteps froze slightly, and he walked away.

After waiting for a few seconds, Felix turned around and looked at their leaving figures, then strode towards the headmaster's office. Dumbledore opened the door twice as slowly as usual. He stopped in front of the window and stared at the green mountains in the distance.

When he turned around, Felix saw Dumbledore with a lonely expression. There seemed to be tears in his eyes. He swallowed the question that was about to come to his mouth and changed the question: "Albus, is the curse on your hand healed?"

"I can't find a reason to keep it." Dumbledore said easily.

"But I noticed that you still wear the ring. You seem to like it very much?" Felix casually found a topic.

Dumbledore lowered his head to examine the ugly ring he was wearing. His hand was unconsciously stroking the black gem on it. He smiled slightly and said, "Who doesn't like ancient and special inheritances? Seeing things reminds me of people! I have seen the last descendant of the Gaunt family. No, it's not Voldemort, but his uncle Morfin. And from Morfin's memory, I saw Voldemort's mother and grandfather."

"What kind of people are they?" Felix became interested.

"Frankly speaking, a very bad family." Dumbledore hesitated and said, "Old Marvolo, his son Morfin, and his daughter Merope. Their family is used to marrying close relatives, and the various character defects brought about by this have made it impossible for them to turn over. They live in poverty. Merope is a little better, but her two relatives... Let's be fair, they lack rationality, have a very bad temper, and are irritable - I mean they can't restrain their desire to attack, but they are arrogant and conceited to the point of being unreasonable."

"And stubborn." Felix added.

"Yes, perhaps this is the root of the problem. They are too stubborn to make any changes." Dumbledore agreed and said, "This is a common problem of most ancient families. They are unwilling to give up the honor of their ancestors, but if you ask them what they have done for this glory, I would say - almost nothing. Their

minds and bodies are becoming more and more rigid, not much better than ghouls.

Whenever there are members of these families who have a little bit of reason and courage, they will find a chance to escape and never go back. This is the case with Merope, and so is the mother of the founder of Ilvermorny, another branch of Slytherin."

There was a moment of silence.

Felix waited quietly, and sure enough, Dumbledore spoke.

"I think I owe you an explanation." He said softly, "Gellert... His physical condition is very poor. His long prison life has destroyed his health. Even if he completely gets rid of the shackles of magic, he can't return to his peak. His overall strength may not be as good as Alastor... I admit that I am a little soft-hearted. He will stay in school for a year and then return to Nurmengard."

"In the meantime, I will keep an eye on him."

Felix understood Dumbledore's complex emotions towards this close friend and rival. He nodded silently, "What about his purpose? Is it simply to teach students, or..."

"Ah, we got to the point." Dumbledore said, "He showed a strong curiosity about you and mentioned Professor Bubbage. If I'm right, he will come to the greenhouse later!"

"Uh--"

Although Dumbledore's tone did not contain a trace of blame, Felix felt embarrassed when he heard it.

This matter has a lot to do with him. He knew that Grindelwald was a proud man, which could be seen between the lines of the reply, but Felix had never respected the ideas of his elders before. On the contrary, he introduced the new changes in the magic world to Grindelwald under various banners. Some short sentences, such as "You may not know" and "There was no such thing in that era"... were used very frequently.

This may have touched Grindelwald's sensitive nerves - a strong sense of frustration.

This frustration has little to do with knowledge, wisdom, and temper. It is simply that he has been closed for too long and has fallen behind an entire era. Therefore, he can only passively accept the facts thrown by Felix, and he himself has no power to fight back except staring blankly.

His life stagnated as early as 1945, and ended in failure. As long as he continues to stay in the cell in Nurmengard, this will never change.

Now, he finally couldn't bear it anymore and ran out.

Felix felt a little ashamed, although this shame disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Well, do you know something, Albus? Grindelwald seems to have a good relationship with Harry. I saw Harry taking him to buy a new cane..."

Dumbledore raised his head suddenly, "Is this true?"

Felix shrugged.

Dumbledore left in a hurry. Felix could fully imagine what would happen next: Grindelwald was forced to stay in the castle and stay away from Harry. Because - just as Dumbledore feared - Grindelwald's thoughts were poisonous.

"Tsk."

Felix whistled happily and wandered around the headmaster's office where no one was around. The portraits of past headmasters who were sleeping in the frames opened their eyes one after another, whispering to each other.

"Dumbledore will pay the price for his softness." An old witch with long silver curly hair said pessimistically.

"He is too irrational." Another yellow-faced wizard echoed.

"We should trust Dumbledore's decision. He is the wisest among us, and don't forget, the prophecy mentioned by that man -" an old wizard who looked very weak said slowly.

Felix, who was trying to touch Fox's gorgeous golden and red feathers, pricked up his ears. Prophecy?

"Hush!" shouted the fat wizard with a big red nose.

The portraits shut their mouths, realizing that Felix, an outsider, was behind them, and refused to reveal any more secrets.

"Ahem." Felix listened for a while, then walked over and knocked on the frame of the old witch with silver curly hair. "Excuse me, ma'am, the prophecy you just mentioned--"

A clear and very realistic snoring sounded in his ears, and he even saw the saliva flowing from the corners of the old witch's mouth.

Felix: "..."

He changed his position and walked to the portrait of the red-nosed wizard next to him. The wizard fell on the table with a plop, and then the snoring like thunder echoed in the circular office. Soon all the portraits were "asleep", but Felix clearly saw these portraits secretly looking at him from under their noses.

"Don't ask, bad boy, we won't tell you." The portrait of Phineas Black said in a smug tone, "We will only listen to you unless you are the headmaster, otherwise it will be a waste of effort. And you still have a long way to go to this position..."

He pointed to the headmaster's chair behind the long-legged desk, his attitude was self-evident.

Felix snorted softly.

"Didn't Sirius tell you? I have a good relationship with the current Minister of Magic. It is easy for me to apply to enter the Prophecy Hall of the Department of Mysteries. There are copies of all the prophecies there."

"You can try." The portrait of Headmaster Black narrowed his cunning eyes and urged in an unpleasant tone.

Felix was stunned in place. He said unconfidently, "Is there...any difference? This is impossible. I mean...all the prophecies are on it. There will be no exceptions. There can't be any exceptions! You are lying to me. You want to see my disappointed expression. I won't do as you wish..."

The portrait of Headmaster Black sneered.

"For Muggle-borns," he said with emotion, "a lot of knowledge is not recorded at all, but passed down orally, understand? Hasn't anyone told you that prophecies are not just verbal, but also--" "

Shut up! You idiot." Someone in the portrait pretending to sleep finally couldn't help but shouted.

"Not just verbal..." Felix muttered to himself expressionlessly, chewing on the meaning of these words, "What could it be? Maybe something that needs to be interpreted, tea leaves, crystal balls, astrology," the corner of his eye glanced at Principal Black, the headmistress who had interrupted before was waving a thick wand in a demonstrative way to scare him, causing him to protest repeatedly.

"Or a short picture? A scene that will happen in the future?"

Felix thought of a false prophecy he had received before, which was just a short picture, a small memory... Although he borrowed a time converter, who said that this was not a way of prophecy? And Felix believed that this method was much more reliable than a formal prophecy.

He left the headmaster's office and saw Dumbledore coming back with a serious face, as expected, accompanied by Grindelwald.

"I've met a lot of people recently... Do you plan to go to them one by one and correct their thoughts?"

"If necessary." Dumbledore said calmly.

Grindelwald shut up and watched Felix come down the stairs and stop.

"Sue the teacher? A child's trick." He said with his head tilted.

"Simple and effective, isn't it?" Felix smiled in response, "Sorry, I still have to go to the concert... It's a pity that you can't go, Mr. Bagshot." He said cheerfully: "I will share my experience with you when I have time, just like before."

Grindelwald glared at him fiercely.

"Felix!" Dumbledore said in a deep voice, interrupting the unfriendly conversation between the two. He was now in a headache, "Felix, Mr. Bagshot will stay in school for the rest of the summer vacation. Please go and bring back his luggage."

He emphasized the last name "Bagshot".

"At your service, sir." Felix grinned and said, "If I run into Harry, I'll tell him that the friend he just met can't come back for some reason - um - for the time being."

Dumbledore took Grindelwald away.

He had already begun to regret it. This hasty decision showed many obstacles from the beginning. Moreover, after the start of the school year, he must ensure that Grindelwald would not take the opportunity to spread dangerous remarks. He would definitely have to audit a few classes. Now is a turbulent time. He doesn't have that much time to follow seven grades, and Grindelwald doesn't have that energy. Maybe it's a good idea to recruit another Defense Against the Dark Arts professor...

On the other hand, Felix certainly didn't go to the concert because it wasn't today.

He rang the doorbell of number four, Privet Drive.

Considering that the last time he came here was not very pleasant, he didn't even finish his self-introduction, so he put in some effort. He changed his hairstyle, clothes, and most importantly, put on a pair of gold-rimmed square glasses, looking like an elite professional.

The one who opened the door was Vernon Dursley, a tall and burly man who was so fat that he almost had no neck. His eyes were full of bloodshot and he was in a bad mental state. It seemed that he had not slept well in the past few days. "What is it?" He shouted roughly, but when he saw Felix's expensive clothes, he lowered his voice guiltily, "Hello? Excuse me, are you--"

"Felix Hepp, sorry to come to visit." He lifted the gift box in his hand, and when Vernon saw the price tag on the gift box, his eyes widened slightly. "I have something important--um, can I go in and talk?"

"Of course, of course." Vernon Dursley said, opening the door in a kind tone, and staring at the watch that Felix accidentally revealed with his greedy little eyes, "I think--at least 20,000 pounds?"

"Maybe. I didn't notice." Felix said casually, and he walked into the house.

"Don't!" Vernon suddenly yelled behind him, and the bloodshot in his eyes seemed to be about to swell, but Felix had already walked into the living room. He turned around, was he discovered?

"What's wrong?"

A thin, long-necked woman came out of the kitchen, holding a spoon in her hand, looking a little confused. Their child, Dudley Dursley, was lying on the sofa reading a comic book. The family was happy and harmonious, and everything was normal, except for -

the comic book!

Petunia's eyes widened, looking both scared and annoyed. That weird, moving, damn comic book! She froze there, at a loss. Her husband in the small hallway made exaggerated gestures silently, and the guests must not notice! She walked over quickly, and tried to block Dudley behind her with a smile on her stiff long face - although it was useless, her son was at least twice as big as her and probably weighed three times as much as her.

Felix handed over the gift box.

"Is that your child? He looks like - what's his name?"

"Yes, yes, Dudley - Dudley - Dada!" Petunia's voice trembled. She found that she had never been so desperate, more desperate than when she found her son's little secret when she cleaned the room a few days ago.

Dudley was very absorbed in reading.

The comic in his hand seemed to have magic. Whenever he opened it, he couldn't help but read along with that paragraph. At this moment, he was reading with relish - since he had been discovered, he didn't have to hide - the little wizard Mick accidentally exploded the birthday cake prepared by his friends for him, and he tried his best to find an excuse.

"What's wrong?" He asked lazily, "Are you going to have dinner?"

There was no timely and enthusiastic response, which was very abnormal.

He looked up and found a young man looking at him with interest. This person seemed familiar... For some reason, he thought of the ice mouse in the magic world. The book said that this snack came from Honeydukes.

Mom had closed her eyes in pain and dared not look, and Dad - his face turned the color of pig liver.

What happened... Dudley suddenly widened his eyes, his book! He tried to jump up from the sofa like a whale coming ashore, but it was in vain. His body had amazing shock absorption, just like a fish out of water. After flopping twice, he remained on the sofa that was groaning.

But the book in his hand flew up.

Four pairs of eyes stared at the comic book sliding in a curve in the air, hitting the guest's exquisite shoes accurately and bouncing off. The pages above seemed to hide a dozen screens, and each character was moving happily and showing a smile.

After an unknown amount of time, Vernon finally came to life and stammered to explain.

"Haibo, Hepa, Mr. Hep, listen to me, this book, this book--"

"No need to explain, I understand completely--" Felix said easily, but the three people in the room were even more terrified, "No, no, you must explain! You must explain!" Vernon shouted loudly, with his arms open, as if he was going to block the door with his own strength.

"I don't think it's necessary," Felix shook his head and said, "I'm so happy that readers like my books. I can't believe that there have been such gratifying changes in just one year..."

"Readers?" Penny asked in a low voice.

"Your books?" Vernon's eyes widened.

"Haven't seen it for a year?" Dudley swallowed.

"Yeah, I thought you knew," Felix pointed at the comic book on the ground with his chin, "there's my name on it."