Chapter 500: Bait ( 2 in 1 )

Newt looked both amazed and fascinated. He gazed at the unusually big Occamy, his eyes intent and scorching, as he murmured under his breath, "Am I dreaming, I hope Tina doesn't wake me up in the middle of it." He tentatively approached, but the Occamy seemed intimidated by his attitude, flapping its wings to bring up a strong wind that pushed him back a few steps.

"Whoa, calm-"

Newt fished out a jar from some corner of his body, which is stuffed with beetles, "I know you like this, I mean no harm, look, it's food - uh- " he said as he tried to slowly screw open the lid, he discovered that the Occamy was slowly starting to get smaller.

"Felix?" He asked with obvious confusion.

Soon the Occamy was only about the size of a newly-born out of its shell. Valen jumped down from the table and locked eyes with the Occamy, her dark eyes sparkled, both are surprisingly about the same size.

"Kee!"

Valen just wants to reach out to grab, but the Occamy has scurried to the side, as Felix's figure reappeared along with a burst of mist. He reached out, and his robe covered his body, as before.

"Show's over."

Felix snapped his fingers and the fog quickly dissipated.

Newt showed an obvious look of disappointment.

"You're not trying to study me, are you?" Felix asked warily.

"Oh no, how could-" Newt said in a slight panic, but his eyes still fixed firmly on him, "Of course not- I can tell the difference between you and the Occamy, there is no such a big Occamy in reality. At least I haven't seen one, is it big because of you?" He lamely changed the subject.

But to be honest, Felix was secretly pleased that Newt had just looked at him like he was looking at a new species of magical creature that he liked, and hadn't seen before.

"It should be me." He sat on a rock and said, "I've tried a few magical creature transformations in the meantime, but for me, this newly mastered Occamy transformation is far easier and seamless than the rest. I guess it's probably because I've mastered the zooming magic quite well."

"The spell you used on the Blast-Ended Skrewt?" Newt asked perceptively.

Felix nodded.

"No wonder then," Newt said, "the connection between ancient runes and magical creatures runs deep - I've read your paper - but, um. " He considered the wording, "you should understand there is a difference between the two, I mean ancient magic and magical creature innate gift, they are different."

"I understand," Felix nodded, "Perhaps, in the beginning, ancient runes did created based on imitating magical creatures and plants, but once the wizards created the first entirely new magic by the combination of pure rune symbols, the two became distinct."

"However, I will try to recover their abilities."

His light blue eyes showed infinite longing, "The gifts of some magical creatures are truly fascinating." He looked down at the Demiguise, this little guy has the ability to briefly prophesy the future in addition to his invisibility, and then he thought about the Phoenix Fawkes in the Headmaster's office, Rebirth Through Fire ... that must be incredibly difficult.

" You are the most qualified to say this." Newt also spoke with emotion, "Everyone underestimates the potential of ancient runes ... When are you coming next? I can't wait to see your new changes."

"When I hit a bottleneck," Felix said with some regret, "I need time to digest the existing gains, and I expect to be very busy in the next year or two."

"The war." Newt whispered.

...

From Newt's house, Felix first went to the company headquarters in Diagon Alley and strolled around.

'Future World' company is on the right track, and - Felix was surprised to find - the employees are generally not that old, and even a number of them are Hogwarts' last two years graduates.

"We currently have 267 people, and at your request, the development in the UK is being held at the same level as it is now, in exchange for rapid expansion and establishment of our presence abroad." Clammy said while holding a thick document.

"Is the plan to introduce the foundation of alchemy being executed smoothly?"

"Those with a foundation in ancient runes are grasping it quickly, the rest is progressing more slowly."

"There's no rush," Felix nodded, "what about self-defence training?"

Clammy sighed.

"Not all wizards like to fight, especially since the dueling class in the school has only been offered for the last few years, and you know what level the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts class was ... more than a third of the employees have not even mastered a single dueling spell, let alone combat sense; They do know quite a few minor hexes, but it has no other use other than pranking people ."

"Pranks are not bad when used well," Felix said, "but the company's employees must master the most basic self-protection, the runic shield charm ..." he paused to think about it. " Forget it, not everyone knows ancient runes. But they must master Shield Charm and Stunning Spell as soon as possible, Apparition and Runic Spells can be delayed. Orders can be postponed for a while, or given to foreign employees to do, we currently have no competitors."

Clammy quickly jotted down.

"What about the progress of the Thief's Downfall?"

"Remus is still discussing with the Gringotts, but the goblins are indifferent to him." Clammy said indignantly.

"Goblins want to stay neutral, or the more intense we fight, the happier they are ..." Felix said, "Isn't the Ministry of Magic still there?"

"The Ministry of Magic has the technology, but it hasn't been used in centuries," Clammy said with an odd look on her face, "They couldn't find the right people to build a Thief's Downfall."

"Didn't the Alchemy Society send someone to assist?" Felix asked curiously.

"No, It is after all a magical organization that operates all across Europe," Clammy shrugged, "Many people are reluctant to come over at this sensitive time, and there aren't many native British alchemists ... who're famous, unless you count Zonko. "

"Zonko...," Felix looked a bit speechless.

Zonko is the owner of Hogsmeade Zonko's Joke Shop, was once an alchemist, but he did not start off well, barely making ends meet after a few years of struggle, almost starved to death, then had no choice but to switch to research pranks and trick products, which unexpectedly became a hit, and since then he has gone farther and farther in that field.

Then how to do it, Felix fell into contemplation, as his goal is getting bigger and bigger, he is worried that Voldemort will put his eyes on the employees of the 'future world' company, compared to the regular protective wards, Thief's Downfall has more strategic value, it can wash away all the spell effects, all the magical disguises, the effective range even covers the polyjuice potion and Imperius Curse.

"Professor ..." Clammy raised her hand, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him.

Felix's heart pounded, "You guys want to try it?"

"That's right," Clammy said, relieved that the professor and her thought aligned together, "We have over fifty R&D wizards, each specializing in two or three fields, and they've also experienced the development process of multiple new products, and I can't think of a more well-integrated group. "

Felix mulled over the feasibility of the plan. The Ministry of Magic has the technology, while the future world has an established team with enough brainpower, it seemed like a win-win, except I didn't know if the Ministry would agree to part with the technology, and it wasn't easy to predict, during the first war, the Ministry of Magic had reached a partnership with the Daily Prophet.

The Daily Prophet also grew rapidly after the war.

"Professor," Clammy said eagerly, "right now is an opportunity."

"All right." Felix agreed, "I'll talk to Ms. Bones, and if she doesn't have a better option now, I'm sure I can convince her. Is there anything left for me to learn?"

"There is!" Clammy said, "But it's all minor stuff."

She flipped through the papers quickly.

"The Weasley twins are interning here, and their-"

"Wait, Fred and George are here? Right here at the headquarters? Right now?" Felix asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Clammy nodded, "They came over on the first day of their holiday, with a belly full of weird ideas ... Remus thought highly of their proposed spell-proof hat, and spell-proof cloak series, and appointed them as team leaders. I personally guided them a few times," She pursed her lips, "though Remus rejected their You-Know-Who prank series - the scare box, constipation kits, and all that sort of stuff ... Fred kept yelling that Remus doesn't have good taste, and said you liked it a lot - is that true?"

"Well, I appreciated their thought process, but it's not really appropriate to make fun of Voldemort now ..., otherwise the Death Eaters will chase their arses chanting killing curses ..."

Clammy stared at Felix's not-so-natural face for a moment and showed a puzzled look.

"Ahem, let's continue."

"... Because of the endorsement of the Ministry of Magic, the number of sales of rune cards has increased dramatically, and it is estimated that at this rate, it will soon be possible to reach one set per household goal... In fact, things related to the promotion of runes are selling well, whether it is comic book extras released by Andys, or rune booklets, both repeatedly reprinted ... many people wrote to ask about illumination casting techniques, and Penelope often worked overtime during this period."

Felix is not too surprised by this.

"Illumination is considered to be the easiest and safest ancient magic." He said.

"Maybe that's not the reason," Clammy said oddly, "The Dark Force Defence League recently published some spells that are effective against dark magic, and besides the Bright Fire-making spell, Illumination is also on the list, with the suggested effect of mass exorcism of Inferius... ..."

"Uh - is this why? I thought it was out of love for ancient runes." Felix said jokingly.

"Professor," Clammy said with a poker face, "The Inferius are not considered even a chore to you, but during the First War, the Dark Lord created hordes of them to spread terror, and that was a nightmare in the minds of countless wizards."

Felix scratched his chin. She was right, he never saw the Inferius as a threat, after all, he can solve them in many different ways. But when he thought about it, the Inferius aren't that easy to deal with - they are not slow, they don't feel pain, and they can resist regular spells.

It's a nightmare for wizards who don't know how Apparite together with their families.

When you combine them with an army of dementors, it's even more terrifying.

...

He went to the Ministry of Magic that day to discuss cooperation regarding the research of Thief's Downfall. Ms. Bones readily agreed, "I'm also fed up with the attitude of those goblins." The whole process did not have a ripple, apart from a fight between Sirius and Bones that Felix watched with relish.

The cause for that was the Longbottoms' return from their journey.

The Ministry of Magic had recently recruited a group of reserve Aurors and Hit-Wizards, which would result in a decline in the average fighting level, and the Ministry is desperately in need of experienced Auror team captains to guide and train them, so Bones was fuming greatly about it.

"Then, the Order of the Phoenix has digested two important combatants without a word." Ms. Bones said with dissatisfaction.

Sirius's stance was simply being in denial

"Is there such a thing? I hadn't noticed it, I've been very busy these days ... and you haven't paid me yet!" He stuffed one hand in his pocket and squinted, and his tone was curt, "And are you really sure that Frank and Alice are part of the Order of the Phoenix?"

"Sirius Black! My brother was one of the first members of the Order of the Phoenix! You think I don't know the truth?" Bones yelled at him.

Sirius immediately went silent, and unusually he did not retort, as he said with a complicated look on his face, "Edgar... he was a brave man and a reliable comrade, and I'm sorry for what happened to him."

It took a long time for Bones to calm down.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little out of line - Felix, let's talk about the arrangements for the award ceremony, Dumbledore fears that the Death Eaters will attack that day, alas, in order to cheer people up, we had to make a big show ... and many people know about it."

If even the Ministry of Magic cleaners knows about it, then there's no way for the Death Eaters to not know about it.

"On the day of the awarding, we will arrange for Aurors to be on strict guard the whole time, all of whom are the most trusted people, moreover with Dumbledore and you around, the possibility of danger is very low, I even think ..." she said after a moment's hesitation, "we can take the initiative and lure in a group of Death Eaters."

"Absolutely not!" Sirius objected out loud, "I can't let Harry and the group act as bait."

"Not them."

"What?"

"It's not them acting as bait, it's our people," Ms. Bones said, "and I'm one of them."

Sirius looked at her in shock.

"What? What do you think made me the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the decade you were in prison?" Ms. Bones asked calmly.

Sirius was subdued by the confidence in those words.

"Crybaby became a cool girl ..." Felix said as he sat in his chair flipping through a comic book, and both of them glared at him in unison, Felix closed the book and said as if nothing was wrong, "Bones, I'm interested in the part about the baiting, and we can have a good chat."

...

Back at 12 Grimmauld Place again, Felix arrived just in time for dinner. There is a large group of people sitting around the table, Sirius, Tonks, Moody, the Weasley couple, Bill, Fred and George, Ron, Ginny, Harry, Hermione, and--

"Hello, Professor." Neville said coyly. The Longbottoms, sitting on either side of him, greeted him with a smile, "Mr. Hap, we last saw each other on Neville's birthday, almost a year ago."

"Yeah," Harry couldn't help but say, "I just realized today that Neville's and my birthday are only one day apart."

"It looks like we're going to have to prepare two birthday parties in a row." Mrs. Weasley said with a smile, "Felix, I've prepared the soup you love."

"Oh--"

"Molly, Felix has only eaten your cooking once." Mr. Weasley reminded his wife.

"It'll happen more often." Mrs. Weasley gave her husband a sneaky slap and said to the crowd, "Hurry up and eat, the kids are tired."

"Thanks, Mom." Fred and George said in unison.

"I'm not talking about you guys." Mrs. Weasley gave them a cross look and turned to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville with a smile, "You've been in the basement for the past few days, it's not healthy, you need to get more fresh air, it's good to visit the Burrow for a few days, otherwise you will be suffocated by holed up in the same room for too long"

"Yeah," Mr. Weasley also said, "you should enjoy your summer holidays when you're young, with us in front, the war might be over before you graduate. So go play Quidditch with Cedric, their family moved near the Burrow ... to look after each other."

"Is there such a thing?" Sirius asked.

"That's right, and we tried to convince the Lovegoods, but they refused to move-"

" Well," Sirius frowned, looking at Harry and the gang, "are you really staying indoors all this time? Practicing magic every day? What do you have in mind?"

Harry silently paddled the vegetable in his soup bowl, Hermione raised her head to look around, and then lowered it again.

Ron muttered, "You won't let us participate in the Order of the Phoenix meetings, so we have to find something to do."

"Ronnie, you're not old enough-" Mrs. Weasley said.

"About that, we might be able to help a little ..." Fred and George looked at each other and said slyly, "There's this thing called Extendable Ears-- -"

"Shut up, you two. I haven't finished yet!" Mrs. Weasley said sternly.

Ron spread his hands and said to the rest of the crowd, "As you know, even Fred and George left the house because they are adults, and the age difference between us, them and Tonks are just a few years--"

Tonks made a demonic face at him from across the room, a real demonic face.

"They're trying to fight You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters!" Ginny said pointedly, her fiery red hair tossed back sharply, "I wanted to train with them too, but they didn't want me and kicked me out."

"Aw, Shut up, Ginny." Ron said.

"I hope that's just a long-term goal, boys." Mr. Weasley put down his cutlery and said slightly more seriously, "Otherwise, we'll need to talk."

...

After dinner, the parents talked to their children individually.

"They wanted us to settle down, you know, stay in school - and deal with boring textbooks -" Ron described Mr. Weasley's mindset. "It was as if the war would be over in a flash before we even could react."

Back in the bedroom on the second floor, they each exchanged information.

Harry, in a depressed mood, said in disbelief, "Why don't they understand, of course, I'm not going to sneak out of school, but the necessary preparations still have to be made, right? For the time when Voldemort approaches me."

He touched the scar on his forehead, and despite his unwillingness to admit it, he really connected with Voldemort deeply, not just by the scar, but by a more emotional level... hatred for each other, they hate each other so much that they can't wait for the other to disappear the next second.

"Trouble is looking for us - I don't think I'd end up well under his rule," Hermione said, sitting on the other bed, "the problem is, it's obvious they want to keep us out of the war, away from Vo-Voldemort." She stammered.

"He is always the one that approaches me!" Harry exclaimed.

Pop, pop, two harsh pops echoed through the old room as Ron's two older brothers - Fred and George - suddenly appeared on the bed where Harry was sitting and tumbled with Harry.

"Ouch--"

Harry sat up with his head covered, his scars hurting badly, but he is pretty sure it isn't because of Voldemort this time. "What are you guys doing over here?" He said with a grimace.

"Came to see you all, poor wretches wandering in misery-" George said in a singing tone.

Fred, on the other hand, is doing the same action as Harry - covering his forehead and groaning in pain, he had the misfortune of bumping into Harry.

Fred muttered under his breath, "I had a bet with George to guess which lucky guy I would pounce ... should have taken some precautions, Harry, check me out, I don't have any weird marks on my head, do I?"

"If you mean a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt, there really isn't one." Harry said without thinking, "I can't see anything but a lump that keeps bulging."

"Bothered Tonks again." Fred sighed.

"Why?" Ron, who had just returned to his senses, asked.

"She's cheerful-"

"Dazed and confused-"

"Gets along with anyone -"

"The key thing is that she has the special potion in her hand, for Aurors." Fred and George said in unison.

Harry froze and looked at them both, and for a moment he seemed to have forgotten the serious topic from before, but Fred and George did become serious.

"Don't blame Ginny, Harry," Fred said, "you guys are training like crazy, even we got a little spooked, and the truth is, we spend most of our daytime in Diagon Alley. Ginny, however, watches you guys every day, and she's worried about you."

"I don't blame her." Harry shook his head and said.

"That's good." Fred and George sighed in relief, and they looked at each other as Fred handed Harry, Ron, and Hermione each a long, thin, flesh-coloured string from their pockets.

"This?" Harry asked, fiddling with the rope in his hand.

"Wow, I've wanted this for a long time." Ron said impatiently as he grabbed it, "These are the Extendable Ears that help you eavesdrop on people's conversations without attracting much attention ... I'm especially interested in knowing what Snape is doing, being secretive and in a hurry as he comes and leaves... ..."

Harry listened with great interest.

Hermione, on the other hand, hesitated to take it, at which point Ron began to demonstrate the effect by shoving one end of the Extendable Ears into his ear and the other end wriggling like a long worm, twisting and turning to burrow under the door.

"Well, I hear some murmurs ... outside is the corridor, there will be no movement at this time unless we hit a jackpot ..."

He suddenly yelped miserably, and Harry heard a very distinctive cat growl from Ron's ear and the door respectively.

Hermione jumped up and opened the door, letting Crookshanks in, with the other end of the Extendable Ears in its mouth -- " Let it go, Crookshanks, that's not food." -- simultaneously she accepted the Extendable Ears in George's hand, "I think it will be useful at the right time." She said with a smile.

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