A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Chapter 31: Felix's Journey of the Heart

Felix Harp watched as the young witch walked away. He stood by the window, able to glimpse through the darkness the distant sight of two young wizards sitting together, holding hands, savoring a leisurely weekend.

"Times of peace..." he pondered the phrase with a touch of nostalgia. It wasn't until he returned to Hogwarts that he truly realized the impact of the war.

While the Dark Lord's reign of terror persisted, Felix was leading older children in the Muggle orphanage to thrash the bullies from the neighboring school. He was, in a sense, having a jolly good time. By the time he entered school, the Dark Lord had been defeated for nearly a year.

The magical world was in chaos at that time—Death Eaters were busy evading punishment, ambitious individuals were eager to seize power vacuums, victims were demanding compensation, and those who refused to accept defeat were plotting counterattacks from their hiding places. Of course, none of this affected him; what affected him were the young wizards within Hogwarts.

During those days, pure-blood families in the wizarding world were doing their best to distance themselves from the Dark Lord. Discrimination? Absolutely not, wizards and Muggles are all kin. But what happened within the household, how they educated the next generation, could be completely different.

Felix entered Hogwarts under these circumstances, and then—

Hush! Don't make a sound. Let's see what we've discovered. A Muggle-born Slytherin! Quick, let's bully him!

Hmm, that was the mindset of most Slytherin students at that time.

After the evening feast, Felix prepared to use his talents to make friends with his housemates. But a Slytherin looked at him with disgust and said, "Get lost, filthy Mudblood!"

It wasn't until Felix unconsciously petrified the Slytherin that he realized the meaning of the word. What on earth had just happened?

Both sides were a bit dumbfounded.

Thankfully, he was as stubborn as they come, and while his other two roommates lacked any sense of integrity, Felix's responses were sharp, and so, that night as he lay in bed, he had already predicted his future situation to some extent.

He realized that this conflict today was not the end of an event, but the beginning of everything.

Subsequent developments unfolded as he expected, but luckily, within a week, he had proven himself; well, pah! He had forcefully made friends with the new students. They said more than once in public that Felix was a good person, not only gifted but also helpful.

Though he couldn't yet overpower the older students, with professors and school rules in place, they wouldn't curse him either. After all, fighting within the same year could be brushed off as friction, but if older students attacked younger ones, they could be expelled.

By the time he displayed his immense magical talent, there were few left who wanted to trouble him.

It must be said, Slytherin wasn't lacking in clever minds.

But danger wasn't confined to the school. Felix couldn't remember how many death threats he received during his years there, but he clearly remembered the first one during his first-year Christmas party.

It was an anonymous howler. Later, he speculated that it might have been sent by the parent of a new student he had beaten up.

However, that year he chose to stay at school cautiously, flipping the second-year Slytherins—can't blame him, they started it, he merely guided the situation to his advantage.

But he hadn't anticipated the escalation of death threats. In the beginning of his second year, a barrage of red howlers flew at him. The entire Great Hall echoed with "You filthy Mudblood, get out of Slytherin!" or "Don't let me see you, or I'll personally erase Slytherin's shame!"

The young wizards at the dining tables were all bewildered. Headmaster Dumbledore was unusually serious; he personally inspected the wreckage of the howlers. But it was difficult to trace their origins—borrowed owls, disguised voices.

To be honest, Felix was perplexed. He wanted to study magic in peace, but things never seemed to go as planned.

Felix Harp had to persist with his plan of making more friends and having fewer enemies. This meant enduring misunderstandings, as those unaware of the truth assumed he was seeking revenge.

Before long, he approached a third-year Slytherin he found particularly displeasing. Under the guise of seeking guidance, he managed to send the boy to the infirmary for three weeks.

Afterward, he visited the patient actively, deeply regretting his "mistake." After all, it had been an accident!

"Professor, I truly feel remorse. Are you going to deduct points? Go ahead, I can bear it..."

Felix suddenly realized that causing trouble for Slytherins was remarkably easy. All he needed to do was insult their families when no one was around.

This fishing method worked every time.

After a few attempts, even the stubborn third-year Slytherin conceded. The most stubborn one was his own roommate, but even he eventually accepted Felix's friendship after seven days of sleeping on the floor.

By the time he reached his third year, he had settled the last resistant seventh-year Slytherin. When it was all said and done, it felt like leveling up and graduating from a game.

Still, he dared not venture beyond the school grounds, as he continued to face death threats every year.

Hence, he spent a whole year pushing himself to master two sixth-level spells, even though his magical theory was only at level four!

Fortunately, it was all worth it. Using his sixth-level "Stupefy" and "Protego" spells, he managed to deal with seven fools who had tried to attack him during his fourth-year summer break. They were currently residing in Azkaban!

Upon returning for his fifth year, he initiated family duels, which, to him, were no big deal. He didn't even get to fight a formal duel—Shafiq was taken away the next day.

From then on, until his graduation, he lived quite contentedly.

After leaving Hogwarts, Felix didn't choose positions at the Ministry of Magic or Gringotts; he had no interest in working there.

Great prospects? High salary?

Well, he could finally say with pride, "I'm not interested in money."

He wanted to stay at the school, but unfortunately, Headmaster Dumbledore refused him.

"You're still young. Travel and explore more before settling down to work in a couple of years."

Felix eventually chose to travel the world, experiencing different magical customs of various countries like checking off a list. He was especially drawn to the black markets of different nations, where he found ancient magical manuscripts and alchemical products he desperately needed.

This was how he came to know some interesting (dark) wizards, all of them masked so they wouldn't be judged by appearances, but rather by what they could offer each other.

In dealings within the shadows, he joyfully tested the magic he had conceived on them. It's crucial to emphasize that he hadn't personally ended any lives—just left behind a bunch of imbeciles. Hopefully, their friends and family took them for treatment.

His "Chamber of Thoughts" also began to take shape, bit by bit.

After completing his travels, Felix once again applied for a teaching position at Hogwarts, only to be gently rejected. However, Dumbledore seemed to discern his disinterest in the Ministry of Magic. He suggested Felix spend some time in the Muggle world.

Felix chose to accept the suggestion. On one hand, he believed this might be Dumbledore's "assessment" of him, considering his actions during his school years hardly qualified him as a "potential professor." On the other hand, he wanted to pave a path for himself, to mold an identity as a scholar—so that even if becoming a professor didn't pan out, he could still engage in conversations with other renowned wizards.

He was confident about it. In the field of Muggle studies, he could catch on quickly.

If he didn't worry about shocking the wizarding world, he could write ten Muggle research books in a year. But in the end, he decided to exercise patience and make his actions more reasonable.

During those two years, his correspondence with Dumbledore increased substantially. Felix sent him research manuscripts, and the two engaged in written conversations about Muggle matters.

This gave him hope of returning to Hogwarts.

Though he faced a third rejection in his third application... reflecting on the journey, he still felt quite pathetic. But from the letters, he could discern Dumbledore's attitude quietly shifting.

Then came the time to publish, publish. His books received modest responses in the market, but among professionals, they held significant reference value.

The name Felix Harp became associated with the title of "Muggle Studies Expert."

Thanks to this, in his third year post-graduation, he established pen-pal relationships with many renowned wizards, greatly benefiting from them.

Some smaller wizarding countries even invited him to lead departments handling Muggle-related matters, but he politely declined.

Exactly three years after his graduation, he finally received an interview invitation from Hogwarts.

From here, everything would begin...

Felix stood by the window, watching as the sun set, its last rays touching the horizon.

Today's two updates, totaling five thousand words.

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