A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Chapter 100: The Trial

On that evening at eight o'clock, a line of young wizards stood in the office of Ancient Runes.

Felix Harp leaned against the desk, one hand stroking his chin. "Hmm…" he surveyed these mischievous troublemakers.

There were quite a few familiar faces.

A total of nine young wizards, and surprisingly, four of them had red hair – Ron, the twins Fred and George, and Ginny.

The other five were Luna, Graham Montague, Marcus Flint, Eddie Carmichael, and Stebbins.

"Not a single house is missing," Felix spoke up.

"Let me think, Fred, George, Graham, Marcus, you four were in a brawl on the Quidditch pitch;"

"Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, you snuck into the Forbidden Forest to feed creatures;"

"Eddie Carmichael, you were caught selling banned potions;"

"And Stebbins," Felix raised an eyebrow in surprise, "you wrote over a hundred love letters to the same girl;"

"And of course, Ron Weasley, for improper behavior and pushing a professor."

Felix approached them; each one was talented in their own way.

"Professor, they attacked us first," Fred said.

"You were spying on our team's training!" Graham Montague exclaimed. He was in the same year as the twins and played Seeker for Slytherin.

"Didn't you do the same? Don't tell me Walden was just taking a stroll!"

Some wizards watched the scene with interest, while others kept their heads down in silence. The two youngest girls, Luna, played with her butterbeer cork necklace while staring intently at the argument, and Ginny remained quiet, her head bowed.

"Silence," Felix said. "Arguing won't change the fact that you're all standing before me."

"I've called you here today for some testing work. I need you to uncover any potential issues with it," he glanced at everyone, "I think this will be much more interesting than copying materials or dealing with weeds."

Felix flicked his fingers, and nine pieces of parchment floated in front of the young wizards.

Fred looked at the parchment in his hand. It was exquisitely crafted, emitting a faint magical glow. Apart from the intricate patterns engraved around the edges, the center was blank.

"Oh, by the way, you'll need some makeshift desks and chairs," Felix drew his wand, and the various odds and ends on the table transformed into small desks and chairs, hopping and shifting.

At Professor Harp's gesture, the nine young wizards took their seats. Marcus Flint, being the largest, looked like a giant sitting on the ground. Felix had to adjust the height of his desk and chair.

Several of them stared at the blank parchment.

"Professor, what are we supposed to do?" one asked.

Felix explained, "The parchment before you is my new teaching tool, and your task is to answer the questions written on it. Of course, before you can use the tool, you need to activate it. To do so, place your wand on the parchment and say, 'I enjoy Ancient Runes.'"

The young wizards on the chairs gazed at Professor Harp as he spoke.

The twins exchanged a glance, attempting to convey something through raised eyebrows and winks.

Ron raised his hand. "Professor Harp, I haven't studied Ancient Runes... and neither has Ginny and her friend."

Felix Harp spoke gently, "No worries, what you have now are just prototypes. The questions about Ancient Runes on them are not too many, and many are common knowledge in the magical world."

Then, he looked at everyone, "You'll find that all the questions are multiple-choice. You just need to use your wand to tap on the answer you believe is correct, and it will give you feedback."

"This process will be quite enjoyable. Let's begin, young wizards."

Among the young wizards present, Luna had the least burden. She excitedly took out her wand and tapped the parchment, saying, "I enjoy Ancient Runes."

Under the gazes of the other young wizards, a faint light emanated from the parchment. Shortly after, words appeared in the previously blank space.

"Welcome to the Answering Space."

A few seconds later, the writing vanished, and the first question appeared.

'Do you prefer leaves or thorns?'

Luna cheerfully tapped the 'leaves' option.

'Do you prefer exploring, protecting, or serving?'

Luna's wand tapped the 'exploring' option.

'Do you prefer thinking, touching, or feeling?'

Luna pondered for a moment, then chose the 'feeling' option.

The other young wizards quickly caught on, realizing that it wasn't too difficult. They eagerly started attempting the questions.

There was an incident in the midst of this. When Fred tapped his wand on the parchment, he unconsciously said, "I solemnly swear—"

He was promptly nudged by George.

"—oh, um, I enjoy Ancient Runes," Fred quickly amended.

On the other side, Ron looked at him, slightly puzzled. Why are you so passionate about Ancient Runes? And why swear?

Nevertheless, everyone began answering.

Soon they discovered that the questions weren't fixed. Some were easy—asking about feelings or basic magical knowledge—while others were more challenging, involving knowledge from various subjects.

Additionally, the feedback from the parchment varied depending on the type of question.

For instance, when faced with the question 'Encountering a snake-like creature, how would you respond?'

Ron confidently chose the 'defeat it' option and even showed it to Ginny. However, the parchment displayed several blood-red words—

"Your fate is lamentable. If there's a next time, run faster."

Luna burst into a fit of night owl-like laughter at the spectacle. She laughed so hard she was practically out of breath. Ginny patted her back to calm her down.

Ron seemed a bit annoyed.

Marcus Flint faced mostly questions related to Ancient Runes knowledge. The earlier questions were relatively easy, and each time, the parchment praised him with "You're amazing," "You're the next runic expert," "Incredible victory."

Then, he proceeded to answer seven consecutive questions incorrectly, causing the parchment's evaluations to plummet: "Somewhat poor," "Did you really study?" "What's in front of you, a giant maybe?"

His face visibly darkened.

However, the next question was about magical history: 'When was the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy signed into effect?'

Marcus struggled for a while and chose the first answer, '1637,' purely a wild guess.

The parchment displayed several exaggerated sketches of figures, depicting them ganging up on a large, monstrous-looking being.

Accompanying the images was explanatory text: 'The Statute was signed into effect in 1689. If you don't want to be treated like a monster, remember this!'

Marcus rolled his eyes. Who has time to remember that?

Eddie Carmichael's questions were mostly about the consequences of selling banned potions.

"In 1927, Dark Wizard Campos sold subpar Babbling Beverage potions. What happened later?"

He looked at the options, 'When he bought supplies, another Dark Wizard killed him,' 'He was sent to Azkaban and sentenced to ten years,' 'He got away with it and retired peacefully.'

Eddie Carmichael eagerly chose the last option.

Sudden dark red writing appeared on the parchment, resembling dried blood.

'Campos was attacked by his partner while buying supplies, later captured by Aurors, sentenced to ten years imprisonment.'

Eddie swallowed hard. But it wasn't over; the next line read, "Campos died after only seven years in Azkaban."

Most of the other young wizards encountered similar questions related to their own misdeeds, making them sweat profusely while answering.

Behind his desk, Felix Harp leaned back in his chair, looking at the exquisite scroll in his hand, a wide grin on his face.

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