A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts - Chapter 474: Rules

Under the tempting allure of strawberry preserves, Valen quickly divulged the sequence of events. However, evidently slower on the uptake than Hermione, it hadn’t quite realized the severity of the issue. Hermione, feeling awkward, fed it a few dried fruits before leaving with the magical parchment Felix had given her.

“Professor, I believe Valen simply made an innocent mistake,” she attempted to rectify her previous error before departing.

Valen blinked, clueless about what an “innocent mistake” meant.

“I understand,” Felix reassured Valen. Hermione hesitated for a moment, poised to leave, but he called out to her from behind. “Miss Granger, you might refer to Nick’s magical parchment to attempt repairing the time turner, but regardless of the outcome, remember, do not use it, don’t put yourself in harm’s way.”

“I promise you, Professor,” Hermione replied.

Felix watched the door close, then shifted his gaze to Valen sitting on his lap. It squinted its eyes, thoroughly enjoying the pat on its thigh. “Chirp chirp! (Keep feeding me!)” Felix chuckled at its nonchalant demeanor.

“Aren’t you reading ‘Tales of Beedle the Bard’?” he asked.

Valen looked at him skeptically.

“Some time ago, you were pestering me about ‘The Fountain of Fair Fortune,'” Felix said. “Actually, you’d find the story following it equally captivating, called ‘The Wizard’s Heart’…”

“Chirp!” Valen jumped, “Chirp chirp chirp! (Don’t fool me! That’s a horror story!)”

“It’s true, every tale in Beedle has a metaphor,” Felix grinned. “For instance, a wizard separates his heart from his body using dark magic, locking it in a crystal casket to evade emotional wounds from society… Perhaps Beedle’s artistic expression of Horcruxes; not to mention, the story’s warning against tampering with life’s deepest secrets—”

At this point, he paused. Not tampering with life—was he tampering with life by transfiguring towards magical creatures? Pondering over this, he realized he should be more cautious and careful. Staying at school until the transfiguration was complete seemed like a wise choice.

Who knew if, during one of his company inspections, he might stumble upon a Noseless Niffler?

He suddenly tasted sweetness in his mouth. Felix snapped back and found Valen extending a strawberry preserve to his lips.

“Chirp chirp! (Change the story!)”

Biting into the sweet treat, Felix mumbled, “Alright, how about a different tale, ‘The Tale of Three Brothers’?” Valen vigorously nodded, clearly uninterested in anything ‘heart-related.’ It was a term reserved for describing cold-hearted wizards.

After all, it had gone through the entire series of ‘The Little Wizard Mickey’s Adventures.’

“Once upon a time, three brothers were traveling down a secluded path…”

Meanwhile, Hermione returned to the common room, clutching the magical parchment.

“Did you send the letter?” Harry inquired, lending Hermione his Hedwig for her family correspondence.

“Yeah, and I brought this back,” Hermione proudly stated, waving the parchment, catching Harry’s attention. “Information on the time turner?” he whispered, swiftly joining Hermione.

“Didn’t see Ron?” Hermione casually asked, carefully unrolling the scroll.

“He went back to the Great Hall to check if the rules for the third task were posted,” Harry said, quickly eyeing the parchment, eager to click on the icon labeled ‘Nick Lemaire Disassembly Solution.’

“Wait, Harry,” Hermione stopped him, “Professor suggested we read through Nick Lemaire’s research on the time turner first.” She clicked on the first icon—a witch in apparent agony. Harry felt uneasy but regained composure as rows of text appeared on the parchment.

“Elloise Mintab? What did she do?” he curiously asked.

“She terminated all long-distance time-travel through personal experience,” Hermione succinctly explained.

After a while, Harry finished Elloise Mintab’s account. He pursed his lips, about to share his thoughts when Ron returned jubilantly.

“The rules are out!” he exclaimed loudly, the sheepskin parchment rustling in his hands, drawing everyone’s attention in the common room.

“Read it out!” Seamus called.

“Oh, uh… alright,” Ron basked in the attention, cleared his throat, and glanced at the parchment. “First, the scores for the first two tasks—Cedric’s team got 126 points, Uagadou 113, Beauxbatons 110, Durmstrang 100, and Ilvermorny 73.”

“You missed one,” Neville reminded him.

“Did I?” Ron’s smile was about to falter.

“You forgot to mention—”

“Oh, right,” Ron pretended to pat his forehead, “I forgot our score, ladies and gentlemen, ready for this moment?”

“Ron, if you like your nose in its current shape, you better spill it out,” Fred threatened mischievously.

“It’s 128 points,” Ron admitted, “putting us in first place.” He added.

The room quieted for a few seconds, then erupted into deafening cheers; everyone clapped and cheered, “Well done!” Seamus exclaimed, pumping his fist.

Ron’s face quickly reddened.

After a while, he managed to break away from the crowd, meeting up with Harry and Hermione, with Ginny trailing behind.

“They’re too enthusiastic,” Ron downplayed it casually, “I mean, it’s not entirely my doing.”

Ginny stared at him intensely, as if he had dirt on his face, making Ron squirm uncomfortably. He stammered, “Alright, I admit, Harry and Hermione did more…”

Hermione snatched the parchment from him, reading the specific rules. After a while, she sighed in relief, saying, “Better than I expected.”

“How so?” Harry asked.

“Before getting the cup, you won’t be attacked by other champion teams; you just have to deal with the maze’s dangers. The person who gets the cup will be revealed every two minutes, helping their team and others figure out the direction. But who finds the cup first will depend on luck—”

“How do they plan to—” Harry couldn’t resist interrupting, “If I get the cup, how do I get revealed?”

“Well,” Hermione quickly scanned the parchment, “it says the cup will sing loudly for ten seconds, and the Weird Sisters specially recorded a war song for this. Also, it’s crucial we abide by international duel competition rules, meaning dark magic will be banned, and there are strict limits on curses. Our practice with the stinging hex might not be of use…”

Hermione proceeded to list a dozen or so restrictive rules, like refraining from using harmful spells against the champions themselves. If one loses consciousness, such as from the Stupefy spell, the victorious champion must signal for patrol guards.

“…Finally, exit the maze with the cup, which ends the tournament,” Hermione concluded.

“So, the key is to grab the cup first, then—” Ginny began slowly.

“Stay mobile,” Hermione said.

“Watch out for ambushes,” Ron added.

“Defeat opponents quickly,” Harry responded without hesitation. The other three turned to him simultaneously, prompting him to explain, “I think the closer you get to the end, the easier it is to get exposed. Dodging won’t cut it anymore, as you might bump into others at any moment.”

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