Harry Potter: A Certain Ancient Rune Professor of Hogwarts (TL)

Chapter 659: Persuasion (2 in 1)

On the afternoon of March 10th, Felix appeared with a small slip of paper with an address written on it. In front of him was a beautiful small house. He stood on the steps and looked around, the surroundings were very empty and Felix could smell the faint scent of flowers, he reckoned there must be a nice garden behind the house.

Felix knocked on the door.

The door was opened by a man with blond hair and a large stomach who looked at Felix with a puzzled look.

“Hello, who are you looking for-” the man asked, and then he was suddenly stunned, “Oh, you’re Mr. Hap, Felix Hap?” After receiving an affirmative reply, he led Felix into the house, and they made their way to the living room.

“Sorry, didn’t recognize you! I must say – you seem rather too low-profile in person compared to your enormous fame, not that I have seen you in the newspapers more than a few times … Yes, Dora told me you would be here, but I didn’t expect you to come two hours earlier – -Dromeda?! We have a guest.”

The man stood in the living room and called out towards an aisle, then he looked at Felix and held out his hand in a friendly manner.

“I’m Ted Tonks, Dora’s father.”

“Hello, Mr. Tonks, Felix Hap.” Felix shook hands, looked around the cleaning tools in the living room, and said with a hint of embarrassment, “I think I may have misremembered the time …”

“Oh, that’s all right,” Mr. Tonks said, picking up the Mrs. Skower’s All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover at his feet and placing it next to the potted plants on the table, “Dora and the others won’t be here until seven in the evening, she’s an Auror and has a lot of responsibility.”

“Is this a leafless orchid?” Felix asked, staring at the potted plant, it is a perennial evergreen Rhizanthella gardneri herb with the nickname ‘spider’s egg’ because its berries look like spider’s eggs as well as because its underground rhizome, when exposed above the soil, resembles a spider. It’s also known as an underground orchid.

“Yes, it-” Mr. Tonks was interrupted by the sound of footsteps, and both Felix and Mr. Tonks turned around at the same time as a strange woman appeared at the entrance to the living room, with a distinct resemblance to Bellatrix Black, though her hair colour is of a soft light brown rather than black, and her eyes were larger and more gentle.

There was no doubt that this woman is Andromeda Tonks, from the Black family, the sister of Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy. She currently looking at him as Tonks’ mother, who is worried about her daughter’s well-being.

Mrs. Tonks smiled at Felix and then exchanged a look with Mr. Tonks.

“This is Mr. Felix Hap.” Mr. Tonks introduced.

“Oh, hello Mr. Hap, Nymphadora has mentioned you … a bunch of times,” Mrs. Tonks said, “I have just started cooking in the kitchen. Nevertheless, you are quite early.”

And so Felix brought up the excuse of “remembering the wrong time” as a pretext again.

Mrs. Tonks nodded and accepted the reason reluctantly, “Have a seat.” She said, “I’ll go and prepare the tea – Ted, Ted, you come and help me.” “Oh, oh, yes.” Mr. Tonks turned his head to Felix and muttered, “I do remember collecting some rare tea leaves … will be right back! You can look at the newspaper for a while, it’s on the table.”

Felix nodded gently and watched them disappear down the corridor aisle, as he leaned down to pick up the newspaper beside him, and pricked up his ears to listen. Unsurprisingly, there was a minor argument coming from somewhere in some corner of the house – probably the kitchen, or the bedroom.

“… I know why … he is acting as a lobbyist, don’t mention the war to me, it’s over … I warn you, Ted Tonks, if you dare make any rash promises …”

Felix fidgeted and shook open the newspaper, the news of some notable significance was the return of the Minister of Magic, Ms. Bones, from the headquarters of the International Confederation of Wizards, during which she had participated in several important meetings with representatives of the world.

The exact details of the meetings had not been released to the public yet.

The newspaper made some speculations, suggesting that one of the biggest possibilities had to do with the law on exclusive wands, which would likely to become a reality perhaps within a few years. The newspaper also carried a moving photograph of a dozen dull figures standing together, with the new Supreme Mugwump Babajide Akingbade who had a tired look on his face.

A few minutes later, Mr. Tonks returned with his head slumped down, with an expression that surprisingly resembled the Babajide in the newspaper. He bumped into the table as he walked over and stifled a yelp of pain as the potted plant wobbled, and he rushed to hold it up.

“Bumped a few blades off.” He glanced over and whispered as he sat down, “So – uh -”

“Hm, Mr. Tonks.” Felix said as he put the newspaper down, “Something just occurred to me on the spur of the moment.” As he said this, he held out his hand and the two fallen leaves from the potted plant turned into two beautiful invitations.

“I’m planning a sort of small press launch this weekend, a gathering kind of thing, so if you guys are not busy you can come and check it out.”

Mr. Tonks took the invitations and muttered, “A press conference? That would be at ‘Future World’ company headquarters? I think … well, there might be a bit of a problem, it’s not very convenient.” His voice lowered, and he began to concentrate on reading the blurb on it.

After a short while, he raised his head.

“Mr. Hap, I don’t quite understand – ‘Witness the birth of a new healing technique with a crowd of guests, and discuss the causes of some of the diseases that plague wizards’… .” he read out a paragraph, then asked, “sounds like a serious academic presentation.”

“More or less, I’ve invited quite a few Potioneers and Healers of considerable repute in their respective fields, and even some Alchemists.” Felix smiled, “But it’s still essentially a gathering, as I don’t expect these people to figure out what I’m going to say anytime soon, the presentation will last a week, but of course, what you’re attending is a dinner on the first day, the main purpose of which is to socialize.”

“By the way, I overheard Tonks mention that you know something about muggle medicine?”

“Ah, you mean that,” Mr. Tonks said cheerfully, “my uncle was a surgeon, I used to go to his house when I was a little boy,” he went on enthusiastically, “he had a study at home with all sorts of surgical models in every corner of the room, and I was very scared …”

Felix listened with a smile and said, “That’s a coincidence, the new healing techniques I mentioned might introduce the concept of muggle surgeries, and to my surprise, wizards seem rather averse to the idea of putting a knife in their body.”

Mr. Tonks slapped his thigh a little excitedly.

“Gee, I thought of that too! When I was at school I always thought Madam Pomfrey could only deal with minor injuries and illnesses, and it was only after I had been to St Mungo’s a few times after graduating that I realized that wizards just didn’t have that concept. Of course, I think it’s because magic is too convenient to use …”

The wizard from a Muggle family had the look of someone who had found a common topic.

“Anatomy.” Felix said softly, “This discipline has not gained any application in the field of healing, because, for wizards, the problems that plague muggles can be solved with a simple spell … On the contrary, it is in the field of Potions that some of its applications are still in use, and when they work on new potion materials they do detailed mapping and potion testing.”

“But would that really work?” Mr. Tonks asked curiously, “I mean, in terms of healing? I’ve talked to some wizards on this subject, and they think Muggle doctors are a bunch of …”

“Crazy people who cut people open.” Felix nodded and said, “Personally, I think it’s a matter of localization; given the differences between the two societies, the surgical knowledge that is so important to the common people might simply serve the role of a supplementary means of furnishing the wizards’ healing methods. But having it and not having it are different concepts.”

“For example-”

“Dragon pox, a disease that is only spread among wizards and carries a fatal threat. Early symptoms are a green and purple rash that grows between the toes and sparks spewing out of the nostrils when you sneeze. If treated in time, it usually heals, leaving at best some unsightly scars or bruised skin.”

Mr. Tonks nodded with a little confusion.

“I remember there was a Minister of Magic who died from dragon pox disease?”

“Eldritch Diggory, he had been working all day even with the disease and ended up dying in his office. The disease is more widespread among the elderly population and is more subtle, and as a result, it is more dangerous, when the disease is contracted. A portion of healers believes that dragon pox was originally caused due to having contact with the Peruvian Vipertooth dragon.”

Felix was ready to say more.

“The fangs of the Peruvian Vipertooth Dragon are highly poisonous.” Mr. Tonks reminded.

“To the average wizard, it is indeed true.” Felix explained, ” so it might have been a diluted toxin, or saliva, or a parasite or pathogenic bacteria that have not yet been discovered in their bodies … In short, the verdict is still not conclusive yet.” Then he changed his words, “But I once found a patient with advanced dragon pox disease in St Mungo’s, and out of curiosity I probed him, and unfortunately he was then beyond medical treatment. He was bruised and swollen – of course, that was only a minor problem, what really killed him was that his magic had also become a mess, some kind of unknown mutation occurred, which rendered all available treatments ineffective.”

“The man must have been in a lot of pain.” Mr. Tonks muttered.

“I suspect that there are many hidden wounds within the bodies of late-stage Dragon pox patients, in fact, those wizards may already be riddled with holes inside their bodies.” Felix said slowly.

“Hidden wounds?”

“I found a more similar example. The body structure of magical creatures is totally different from that of wizards; their magical abilities rely more on special semi-virtual veins within their bodies, which are integrated with the flesh and blood tissue of their bodies and are difficult to detect, but nevertheless, they are the channels where their magic power flows, or … you can just refer to them as magic circuits. And for this reason, magical creatures do not need to acquire the ability to cast spells through study, as the young wizards do.”

“So that is how it is.” Mr. Tonks said in a daze.

“… But such different kinds of pathological mutations are undoubtedly harmful to wizards; some have a haphazard pattern and the end result is life-threatening, such as that of dragon pox; some small number of such disease has reached a bizarre coexistence with wizards and have an extra influence on their bodies, but they are not nearly as potentially harmful, as in the case of werewolves.”

Mr. Tonks drew in a deep breath.

There was a shriek from the entrance to the living room, and it was Mrs. Tonks, who dropped the teapot she was holding. Felix waved his hand and let the teapot fixed like time rewound and landed on the small table.

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Hap.” Mrs. Tonks said in a not very natural tone, as she had been listening from the entrance for some time. She came over carefully and placed the cups down, “So, is the werewolf issue going to be cured?”

“Good question. I have discovered and separated the very ‘lesion pattern’ that affects werewolves, and combined with what I said earlier, there is actually great hope for a breakthrough, but of course, I am no expert in this field, hence the whole gathering this weekend is arranged.”

“That sounds very convincing, Mr. Hap, and I can’t find any holes in it.” In the middle of the sentence, Mrs. Tonks said in a flat tone, “But you can’t deny that it’s all just a theory, a castle in the air … Even if the theory is correct, there’s no telling how many years will have gone by before it becomes reality.”

Even though the conversation was close to the core and both sides knew it by heart, neither of them mentioned the name.

“I have to agree with that, Mrs. Tonks.”

Felix said in a tone tinged with a bit of cheerfulness as if it seemed to him that everything was going well.

“I may not be able to step in and do anything pioneering in the field of healing, especially the part related to potions. But let’s not forget that I am an expert in ancient runes and I will always approach the problem from the perspective of ancient runes. And fortunately, some results have been achieved so far … Although it is extremely difficult and not suitable for mass replication, it is still possible to use it on one or two people and solve some tricky issues. Would you like to hear about it?”

Mrs. Tonks pursed her lips for a long while before she said coldly, “You’re a good lobbyist, Mr. Hap – I’m more than happy to listen.”

Half an hour later, Felix was accompanied by Mr. Tonks on a tour around the rooms in the house.

“These are Dora’s toys from when she was a child.” Mr. Tonks pointed to a row of stuffed dolls on a shelf, “There were originally quite a few human dolls, but when we realized she was intent on mimicking the expressions on the dolls’ faces, we replaced them all with small animals, mostly rabbits, and bears. Still, her aesthetic was a little off, and she clearly preferred violet or pink hair over her own grey-brown hair.” He said, a little hurt.

It was clear in Felix’s mind that Tonks’ original hair colour had clearly been inherited from both parents – a balance between light brown and blonde, though it was obvious that she herself was not too happy with the colour.

They made their way to the garden in the courtyard.

Mr. Tonks dutifully described the various plants, “You’ve seen the pinks, and the purples are here – we’ve got quite a few violets, of every kind. See that hollow in the middle? It’s not very pretty now, it’s a bit ugly, but once it fills up with water in the rainy season there, we’ll choose to plant some aquatic plants like hyacinth, and oh my God, they’re purple again, I just realized …”

At that moment, a commotion came from the house behind them.

“Someone has arrived.” Mr. Tonks said dubiously.

“Is it Tonks and the gang?” Felix asked.

“I don’t think so, it’s still early, it’s still over an hour before Dora gets off work … how strange.” Mr. Tonks said, walking towards the house. They could faintly hear the sound of talking.

Felix who followed rolled his eyes, he probably guessed who the guest was.

“Hello, Sirius.” Just as they entered, they heard Mrs. Tonks’ somewhat annoyed voice, “No need to bring so many things, the living room won’t fit them all at all.”

Then they heard a hearty laugh.

“Gee – you’re welcome, my dear cousin. And I know Remus so well, I still can’t believe he got ahead of me …” Mr. Tonks suddenly slowed his movements and even became a little creepy as he tiptoed, and quietly pulled a gap through the back door to make Sirius’ overly enthusiastic voice more audible.

“… Cousin, speaking of Remus, he’s one of the few people I admire, both brave and kind, always prioritizing others first, and I swear there are definitely a lot more people that have been looked after by him over the years than one could imagine, even if he is poor himself, err, I mean, once, he’s quite rich now, I think he could totally buy a house in Diagon Alley now …”

Felix looked over Mr. Tonks’ shoulder to see Sirius smiling and talking, he is dressed formally today, in a smart suit with a green handkerchief with silver threads in his breast pocket and the Black family coat of arms embroidered on one corner of the handkerchief.

He looked like a best man.

But Felix isn’t sure if this get-up is having the counter effect, or if it was the result of Sirius’ increasingly blatant innuendo. Because Mrs. Tonks’ face was growing grim, her fingers clutching the soup ladle with a death grip, as if she is prepared to raise it at any moment to knock her cousin on the head.

Felix was tempted to pretend that he didn’t see it, and thus avenge Sirius for having set him up, but he cleared his throat in consideration of the stability of the ‘future world’ company for decades to come.

Sirius stopped talking and looked back in shock.

“Felix? What are you doing here so early?”

“What else could the reason be,” Mrs. Tonks said teasingly, with a scowl, “Of course, for the same reason as you.”

…

When an anxious Tonks returned an hour or so later with a formal-looking Lupin, the two were surprised to find that they had been treated not quite warmly, but definitely not coldly either, and even a small smile spread across the corners of Mrs. Tonks’ mouth when Sirius deliberately mentioned their childhood past.

After dinner, they said their goodbyes and departed. Lupin walked out of Tonks’ house with a light step, his face filled with half incredulity and half thankfulness that he had survived.

As they parted, Sirius patted him on the shoulder and for a moment, Lupin seemed to understand something, his eyes moistening. He hugged Sirius fiercely for a long time before letting go, and then he turned to Felix.

“Felix, this birthday is my-”

“Work hard.” Felix said in a tone that quite spoiled the mood. On the side, Sirius rolled his eyes.

——————

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