Harry Potter: A Certain Ancient Rune Professor of Hogwarts (TL)

Harry never expected that he would hear the name “Future World” company many times in the next two days.

The third morning, he rushed to the Magic Rune Club with Ron and Hermione, because there’s only one week left, every member of the club has a sense of urgency in their hearts, even if Harry and Ron, who had been tightly restricted before, were patient enough not go to their last trip to Hogsmeade this semester.

Of course, this is also related to Hermione who pointed out certain concerns, “This kind of opportunity can not be easy to find – in case you do not meet the professor’s expectations, the professor will not only send a letter home, even whether there is a second opportunity in the next academic year for you will have a question mark. You guys don’t want to see Malfoy all smug, do you?”

Harry had to admit that Hermione’s last comment hit him deep, and so for Ron.

“Look at his arrogance, I can’t believe he completely forgot about Buckbeak!” Ron became indignant about it.

When Draco Malfoy had left the classroom yesterday, bragging to them about his academic progress, Ron had chosen to counter him with the news that the Buckbeak case had been won, only to have Malfoy completely forget the name and say mockingly, “Is that a doll you made up yourself, little Ronnie?”

Several Slytherin students laughed, because of George’s blunder, the entire club knew what Ron’s nickname is.

…

They arrived at the main location of the Magic Rune Club, Hermione traced out a rune on the air with her finger and pressed it against the door, which opened silently, and closed automatically when the trio walked into the room.

Professor Hap is sitting on the sofa, in the middle of a conversation with Neville, sharp-eyed Hermione noticed Neville passing the professor an invitation with intertwined gold and red floral patterns.

“I got it, Neville.” The professor said.

Neville smiled meekly at Harry and the gang, then pushed his fingers into the stone basin that next to him and got sucked in, while Harry began to imagine the image of him falling through the air and a Professor Hap suddenly appearing.

Harry and Ron entered the space inside the stone basin one after another, Hermione stayed behind and looked at Felix, clearly having something to say.

“Please sit down, Granger.”

Hermione sat next to him, “Can I talk to you, Professor?”

“Of course, you’ve gone ahead of them, and it was with reference to your learning progress that I designed this teaching program.” Felix smiled as he leaned over and let his palm brush the stone basin, as a starburst of light spilled from his fingertips, “Well, no one will hear us talking to each other.”

Hermione pulled out the time-turner hidden in her shirt and said hesitantly, “Professor, do you think I should turn it in?”

“Why do you say that?”

“I broke my agreement with Professor McGonagall and used it for something other than studying, she trusts me so much, if she knew about it-” Hermione said sadly.

“Miss Granger,” Felix increased his tone, “do you think it’s just me and you who know about this? Maybe even counting your two best friends?”

Hermione’s eyes widened: “Professor, you mean to tell me that there are other people who also know and are aware-” Her hands and feet became cold, the day of the Battle on the Bridge, she had broken at least a hundred laws set by the Ministry of Magic.

“Let us make a simple re-cap of our actions of that day: we did cheat time, or more accurately, just make up a piece of history.”

Felix said calmly: “In order to wait for the scene you mentioned, even when they were in crisis several times, I did not show up and kept watching from the sidelines, the closest being less than a foot away from Harry … until your experience became everyone’s experience, and I made my move to guide Harry, and he successfully cast a powerful Patronus, followed immediately by what happened afterward.”

Hermione nodded, the professor had told her, and she couldn’t agree more.

Felix continued, “But there was a flaw in it – I appeared to the crowd out of nowhere. For those who know that you have a time-turner, it is easy to deduce many things from this tiny detail, such as Headmaster Dumbledore, such as Professor McGonagall …”

“What about the Ministry of Magic?” Hermione held her breath.

“The Aurors shouldn’t be aware of something so confidential, at least not enough to associate it with you, but Fudge … I don’t know if his power-hungry brain can think of it, but he has no way to verify it.” -Felix said, spreading his hands.

Hermione sighed quietly in relief.

“I’m not saying this to scare you, but to tell you what you’ve overlooked before. So if Professor McGonagall pretends not to know, there’s no need for you to have to spill it all; it would embarrass you both … but I do suggest you drop some of your electives, you’ve got a tiring year ahead of you.”

Hermione bit her lip, her expression tangled, she mentally calculated it, she had already given up divination, as long as she gave up one more, she could have a normal class schedule, and she already had the answer in her mind.

She had chosen Muggle Studies before because she thought it would be fascinating to see ordinary people from the perspective of the wizarding community, but a year down the line, novelty worn off, she realized that in certain areas of common sense, the professor didn’t know any more than her about this subject, and the textbook perspectives are rather outdated and mundane, not nearly as rewarding as the book written by Professor Hap had brought her.

“Professor, I’ve thought about it, and I’ll return the time-turner to Professor McGonagall.”

Later today, she would find a right moment – at Professor Lupin’s farewell party.

…

When that day’s class ended, Harry heard the whispers of Percy and Penelope as they walked out of the classroom.

“Penelope, have you thought about it?”

Penelope said hesitantly, “I want to do something meaningful, that future world you mentioned, just a new company, maybe just a small store?”

“It has a tempting offer in its advertisement, doesn’t it?”

“Maybe it’s just talking big …”

“No, look at its pay, fifty galleons a month, that’s a lot higher than a Ministry of Magic employee, I can’t even get that money-”

“I didn’t pick my job for the money!” Penelope said angrily.

“I know, I know, but it also means that this company is very sincere and very short of people,” Percy made his best effort to persuade his girlfriend: “Do not rush to make a decision yet Penelope. When the holiday is over, I will go with you to have a look, just in Diagon Alley …”

In the evening, Harry went to Professor Lupin’s office.

The office of the Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts had moved to the second floor, and Harry had long suspected that the fight between Professor Lupin and Snape had destroyed the original room. He had caught a glimpse of it in Professor Hap’s eyes during the dueling tournament when the two had confronted each other.

But Professor Lupin and Professor Hap both denied it, and he really did not dare to ask Snape – as a result is predictable, he will be deducted fifty points, plus a week of detention.

Lupin’s office door is open. He had already packed most of his things. Grindylow’s empty water tank stood next to his battered old box, which is wide open and nearly full.

“I saw you coming.” Lupin said with a smile, gesturing at the parchment on the table, and Harry moved over to discover that it turned out to be the Marauders’ Map. The map had gone in circles and come back to its maker.

Lupin said, “Professor Hap gave it back to me the other day, he has cracked the secret on it, Sirius and I agreed that it should belong to you.”

“To me?” Harry asked in surprise.

“You are as fidgety as James, and I dare say that you, Ron, and Hermione will find a use for this map. James would be greatly disappointed if his son never found any secret passages in the castle.”

“But the secret passages have been blocked …”

“Just the secret passages to Hogsmeade,” Lupin added to his words, “there are far more than that in the castle.”

Harry smiled and picked up the map, looked carefully for a moment, he could not find Professor Hap’s name, so he grinned, the professor really cracked the secret of the Marauders’ Map.

He tucked the map into his pocket smoothly and saw the newspaper folded in a corner beside him, the page of recruitment information caught his attention, and he read it carefully –

‘Future World welcomes you to join us!

We are hereby recruiting throughout the society, regardless of origin, based on your ability. Anyone who exceeds the standard in any of the three following fields – ancient runes, alchemy, charms, transfiguration, magic theory, and muggle studies – may submit a letter to apply for the job, and once selected, the offer will be generous, and you will receive a monthly payment of fifty galleons for each month of work.

Our company is dedicated to engaging in practical research in magic and building a better life for all wizards.

Join the future world, join the future. We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Also: as our company will involve the improvement and transformation of numerous muggle items, those with relevant experience in life are preferred.’

Harry put down the newspaper and said hesitantly, “Professor Lupin, you are planning to …”

“Ah, you mean this,” Lupin said as he tightened his old trunk and looked up: “After leaving Hogwarts, I didn’t know what to do for the time being, and happened to see the above advertisement … I thought, if I could apply for this job successfully, even if I only work for a few months and get kicked out, it’s still a lot of money.”

Harry felt sad for Professor Lupin, not a sudden rush of emotion, but like an undercurrent beneath the surface of calm water, poking his heart one by one with an irrevocable, faint sadness.

Professor Lupin has carried the identity of a werewolf all his life, hiding in the hills, not staying in one place for more than six months, and after leaving Hogwarts, he will also lose his steady source of wolfsbane potions.

“You’re going to make it!” Harry encouraged him loudly.

Lupin looked surprised for a second or two, then smiled: “Don’t worry about me, Harry.” But he didn’t state a reason, perhaps because there is no reason to give, he put the box in the corner and straightened his robes, “Let’s go.”

—————

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