Hermione inquired, "Professor, what is the purpose of this magical rune circuit?"
Felix Harp waved his wand, and a piece of chestnut wood floated up from his hand, soaring into the air as their gazes followed.
"This chestnut wood fragment bears only one Bursting Rune circuit, extremely unstable. With just a slight nudge from me, like this..." He lightly snapped his fingers.
"Boom!"
The chestnut wood shard exploded abruptly, accompanied by a powerful blaze and a resounding boom that startled Hermione.
Following that, Felix Harp demonstrated several more rune circuits to Hermione, giving her a fundamental understanding of this professor's field of study.
"Let's end it here for today. Tomorrow, I'll truly teach you about ancient magical runes."
Unbeknownst to them, the time had already reached half-past nine.
Returning to the common room, Hermione saw Harry covered in dust, looking weary as he leaned on the table, absentmindedly playing with a wizard chess piece. The "insulted" knight repeatedly poked Harry's fingers with its miniature lance.
Ron was busy with a potion assignment, three sets of reference answers laid out in front of him.
Seeing Hermione's return, Harry couldn't help but ask, "How does it feel, being the assistant for Ancient Runes on your first day?"
Hermione smiled, "It's been fantastic!"
Ron was curious about her tasks, "What have you been doing? Grading papers?"
"Well, I'm only responsible for grading a portion of the fifth and seventh year papers. You know, not many students from sixth and seventh year opt for Ancient Runes. They all attend the classes together from the four houses."
Ron suddenly got excited, "If I were you, I'd definitely deduct points from Slytherin for their essays."
Hermione's face instantly turned serious, "Ron, I must uphold my responsibilities."
Ron deflated like a punctured balloon onto the table.
"How about you, Harry? How's your Quidditch training going?" Hermione inquired.
"Same as usual, especially now that Fred and George got some intel from Slytherin. The Nimbus 2001 is so fast, you can't even see their faces." Harry looked rather pessimistic.
Hermione could only sympathize. The entire school lacked confidence in Gryffindor's first match against Slytherin. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were eager to use this match as an opportunity to gauge the combat prowess of the Nimbus 2001 brooms for targeted training.
Team morale wasn't high either. Wood secretly confided in Harry, "Our brooms might not match up to Slytherin's, but as long as your speed is up to par and you catch the Golden Snitch early..."
This added even more pressure on Harry.
...
On Sunday evening, Hermione once again entered the office of the Ancient Runes professor.
From a distance, she suddenly spotted Draco Malfoy exiting the office. Hermione quickly hid behind a pillar, observing Professor Harp and Malfoy conversing, with Malfoy nodding repeatedly.
Her emotions instantly grew complicated.
Inside the office, Hermione sat quietly on the couch, watching Felix Harp wave his wand, stacking a dozen pieces of parchment into a corner.
Could it be Malfoy's paper?
Hermione's mind swirled with various thoughts. She wanted to ask Professor Harp why Malfoy was here, but wisely held her tongue.
Just like yesterday, Felix Harp sat on the other side of the small low table, in front of which were ten pieces of chestnut wood, each engraved with a runic symbol.
"Today, we officially delve into the practical applications of ancient runes," he emphasized the word "practical."
"The magical meanings of these ten runes are all distinct. For instance, this one," he pointed to the first chestnut wood piece, "represents the concept of connection. To elaborate, it can link runes of the same category, like liquid or flow; or even concepts that are relatively opposed, like burst and stability..."
"In actual practice, I found that its form can undergo seven different transformations, each suitable for..."
He spoke for an hour straight, leaving Felix Harp with a dry throat.
"Next, we proceed to practical exercises."
Seeing Hermione draw her wand, Felix Harp smiled, "Our practice doesn't require wands."
"I've spoken with Professor McGonagall. I possess unique teaching techniques."
Hermione still had some doubts, but Felix Harp leaned down and lightly touched his wand to the young witch's forehead, simultaneously murmuring an incantation.
Suddenly, her vision felt hazy. The office's furnishings shimmered and twisted like water currents, colors blending into each other, making her feel as though she was within an abstract painting.
However, the distorted environment soon reverted to normal.
To her surprise, she and the professor were still seated on the couch, but the small low table between them acted as a dividing line, splitting the room into two halves. Professor's side was cluttered with a myriad of books, easily thousands of them.
These books were arranged into several stacks, seemingly representing different categories.
Yet, what caught her eye were the ancient runes pulsating on the books, each displaying varying colors: bright red, emerald green, deep blue, metallic sheen...
Hundreds of ancient runes resembled playful sprites, darting around the half of the room.
Hermione couldn't resist standing up. She glanced at Professor Harp, who gave a slight wave, indicating she could explore at will.
The young witch passed through the invisible barrier. An ancient rune flew before her, and Hermione couldn't help but cup it in her hands, allowing it to bounce around her palm.
Only after the little rune hopped away did she reluctantly shift her focus. She moved through the stacks of books, skimming through them with a sweeping gaze, while quickly scanning their titles—
"History of Ancient Runes," "Explorations in Ancient Runes," "Mysteries of Ancient Alchemy," "Principles of Spellcasting," "Advanced Spell Analysis," "Selected Transfigurations," "The Art of Duelling," "Dueling Techniques," "The Ravenclaw Manuscripts (Volume One)," "Compendium of Dangerous Magical Creatures," "Magical Potency," "Advanced Ancient Runes," "The Allure of Alchemy"...
So many, and all of them were substantial tomes. Hermione even spotted a book that stood two feet tall, with a thickness of nearly half a foot.
Even as a top student, she couldn't help but feel inadequate. She silently resolved to read as many books in the future...
She stepped over a tall stack of books and bypassed the undisturbed deep green curtains, only to find a pile of Muggle books: "Experiments of the Mind," "Secrets of the Human Brain," "Analysis of Thought," "The World's Best Jokes"...
She even stumbled upon a complete set of the "Encyclopedia Britannica," her childhood favorite!
Apart from these relatively normal books, in a corner of the room, lay seven or eight books scattered about, constantly emanating dark tendrils. If one stared at them intently, they could faintly hear the lament of a male wizard.
Could it be... dark magic books? The young witch was dumbfounded, sneaking a glance at the professor.
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