A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Chapter 80: Conversation

The next day.

When Harry and Ron arrived at the infirmary to visit Hermione, they found her no longer gloomy as she had been a few days prior. Instead, she sported a furry face, enthusiastically waving her wand, and occasionally flipping through parchment on the table.

"Hermione, what are you doing?" Ron inquired.

"Naturally, I'm practicing magic. If all goes well, I might manage to learn it before the start of term."

"Why rush before term starts?" Ron seemed puzzled.

"Because it could help me solve a little problem," Hermione replied, squinting her eyes and speaking with a cheerful smile.

And so, for half an hour in the hospital wing, Harry and Ron watched as Hermione repeated the same motion hundreds of times, occasionally stopping to record something on a piece of parchment.

...

Felix Harp closed the door to his office and stepped out, looking neat and put-together. Along the way, he felt a sense of melancholy.

After revealing that he had successfully obtained research material and once again resisted the temptation of the diary's allure, the Tom within the diary had finally withdrawn. He had completely cut off his communication with the outside world.

No matter how much Felix tried, it seemed that the other side had made up its mind to let him handle things. Even when he pressed a cluster of pale fierce fire against the diary, there was no response.

"Tom, I refuse to believe you'd give up on yourself like this," Felix contemplated various thoughts. He even thought he might be waiting for an opportunity.

So, he carefully sealed the diary once again, even inscribing warning runes on the box.

Before going out, he placed his wallet (Bound Vine Edition) by the door, in case any unreliable young wizard decided to barge in and take the diary.

"Perhaps it's time to let you have your final act, Tom."

In the castle corridor, Felix encountered Peeves, who was up to his usual mischief.

Peeves held an iron bucket filled with mud and was currently smearing layer after layer of thick mud onto armor.

"Peeves, have you seen Professor Gray?" Felix asked him.

Peeves looked at him, seemingly taken aback, then burst into a cackling laugh. "Oh, Professor, I haven't seen... I don't care about that nose-in-the-air woman."

"I believe someone 'knows,' that repulsive stalker," he floated in mid-air, snarling and clawing.

"Show some manners, Peeves," Felix said calmly. "Or perhaps you'd like to experience my magic again."

"No, Felix Harp! You can't..." Peeves' face showed a fearful expression, and he quickly vanished through the wall.

"Clang!"

The iron bucket Peeves was holding crashed to the ground, making a loud noise as the mud inside splashed out.

Felix waved his wand, and an invisible barrier kept the mud at a distance of three feet.

"Hmph, Peeves, it's you again! I'll definitely request Professor Dumbledore to kick you out of the castle..." a breathless, flushed man rushed down the corridor, swinging his fists and venting his anger hysterically.

It was Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts Castle.

"Oh, um... Professor Harp, have you seen Peeves?" a furious Filch didn't find his expected arch-nemesis but rather an impeccably dressed Felix.

"Hello, Filch. Peeves just left," Felix waved his wand, making the mud on the floor and armor vanish. "By the way, have you seen Professor Grey today?"

"You mean the Ravenclaw ghost?" Filch sniffed, "Let me think... I think I saw her... a tall ghost, doesn't pay much attention to people, right? I saw one in the courtyard, not sure if it's her."

"Thank you, Filch."

Felix made his way to the courtyard, scanning around. At the end of the courtyard railing, he spotted a tall ghost hovering in mid-air.

She noticed Felix looking at her, raised an eyebrow in surprise, and then turned to float through the wall.

"Wait, Professor Grey!"

Felix crossed the railing and followed her down a secluded corridor.

She finally came to a stop, suspended a few inches above the ground. She was strikingly beautiful, with waist-length hair and a silver robe trailing on the floor. But she also held her head high, exuding an air of arrogance and disdain.

He had come across this ghost several times during his schooldays but had never spoken to her. He wouldn't even have realized the presence of this low-profile Ravenclaw ghost had it not been for his accidental encounter with the private conversation between the Bloody Baron and her. That's when he realized the seemingly inconspicuous Ravenclaw ghost had a much bigger background.

"Professor Grey, I am Felix Harp."

She nodded but didn't speak. Her gaze held no warmth.

"I wanted to learn about the early days of Hogwarts, the stories of the four founders. The existing records are quite vague."

"I'm afraid," she said, turning to leave, "I can't help you."

"Wait, Miss—" seeing her drift farther away, Felix called out, "I know you're Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter."

She halted and turned to look at him. "You know about my heritage? Did you come here specifically for me?"

"Yes, I—"

"Hmph, another one!" she swirled in mid-air, her lips twisting into a cold smile.

"Another what?" Felix inquired, but he quickly realized that he probably wasn't the first to ask her about the secrets of Hogwarts.

"Another ambitious person!" she said sharply, "Every few decades, there's always one, trying every possible way to inquire, to gain my trust..."

"You mean Voldemort?" Felix asked.

She abruptly stopped talking, a surprised expression on her face. Then she felt offended, floating a couple of feet higher and looking down at him.

"Yes, I guessed it, the Crown of Ravenclaw. Voldemort has always coveted the Founders' relics, but I don't care about those. What I really want to know—"

Felix's words were cut off as the ghost, with anger and a hint of stutter, said, "The... the Crown of Ravenclaw can grant wisdom. You don't understand its power! Countless people have coveted it! They want it so desperately!"

"—the history of Gryffindor and Slytherin," Felix finished his sentence at the same time.

Their words intertwined, and faint echoes reverberated in the empty corridor—"You don't understand its power!" "Gryffindor~" "History of Slytherin~"

Lady Grey was taken aback, "You want to know about those?"

"Of course."

"Ah, well," she floated uncertainly, seeming a bit at a loss, "Gryffindor... Slytherin... What do you want to know?"

Finally, she asked somewhat awkwardly.

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