As February rolled in, the snow within the school grounds began to lt, leaving the air damp and chilly. With the arrival of the first cold rain, Professor McGonagall gathered seven of the most promising students to remind them that they were now entering the rainy season, with a high likelihood of encountering stormy weather.
Of course, this was just a ploy to instill a sense of urgency in the students, keeping them from becoming complacent. Privately, Felix had assured her that he could conjure up a storm for Hogwarts at a mont's notice.
As another sunset approached, Harry finished reciting the Animagus incantation. During the recitation, he felt a slight quickening of his heartbeat, but he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination. After hesitating for a while, he decided to wait another two days before reporting to the professor, wanting to be absolutely sure.
Exiting the courtyard, he spotted two familiar figures, one of which quickly left upon his arrival. Hurrying over, he called out, "Luna?"
"Hi, Harry," Luna greeted warmly, waving at him even though he was already standing in front of her. "Long ti no see."
"It hasn't been that long, really," Harry muttered, "Were you just talking to Ron?"
"Yeah, but we didn't get to say much. He left as soon as he saw you. I think he's avoiding you," Luna said.
"Thanks for letting
know," Harry said. Luna once again demonstrated her unique ability—cutting right to the unpleasant truth. He had never t anyone quite like her. "So... um, what were you both talking about?"
Harry tried to steer the conversation back on track, not wanting Luna to wander off on her own tangent.
"He told
to 'bugger off'," Luna said.
"Not that—sorry, Luna, let
apologize on his behalf. Ron's been in a bit of a mood lately, acting like a complete git... partly my fault."
"It's alright," Luna said calmly. "Ginny told
a bit about it. She said she shouldn't have been so impulsive, even though she spent more ti proving herself right. Ron's just being his usual self... She also ntioned Hermione and Neville, so does that an my friends were fighting behind my back?"
Harry felt extrely awkward hearing Luna talk about it as if it were so beneficial group activity, and they had sohow excluded her.
"No, Luna, I wanted to know if he ntioned anything specific? Like—"
"His birthday," Luna said sowhat absentmindedly. "He said he ssed everything up and asked
not to bother him anymore. He seed quite upset, but that's not surprising, is it? It's his coming-of-age... I rember your birthday is at the end of July?" Her last statent sounded less absentminded.
"That's right," Harry said absentmindedly. This wasn't what he wanted. "Thank you, Luna, but I actually wanted to know where he's been hiding lately—wait, coming-of-age?" His mind raced. He knew Ron's birthday was on March 1st and had already prepared a gift, but he hadn't really connected the dots with coming-of-age.
He suddenly realized sothing: among the three of them—himself, Ron, and Hermione—Hermione was the first to co of age, then Ron, and finally himself—July 31st, less than six months away.
Not much ti left, he thought eagerly.
Maybe Ron wanted to use the Animagus transformation as his coming-of-age gift, so his reaction was so extre after failing? Harry subconsciously made excuses for Ron. By this ti, Luna had begun to answer Harry's second question.
"...I asked Felix about it while I was carrying my two gifts, the model of the Triwizard Cup Ginny gave
and the magical Triwizard Cup. He said it was a good sign, albeit unexpected... Ron was there too."
"You said you saw Ron in Professor Snape's office?" Harry caught onto the key word keenly. "What was he doing there?"
"...with his mouth stuffed with chocolate cake, I almost didn't recognize him," Luna finished her sentence as if she hadn't heard him, "I only saw him there once. But maybe he's been there all along."
With more questions than before, Harry headed back.
He hadn't expected Ron to be in Professor Snape's office, as in his mind, the professor hadn't had any individual contact with Ron, even during detentions, they had always been with him together. And what was with the chocolate cake?
anwhile, Ron had already gone a long way, circling around to the front of the castle, climbing up the moving stairs, and sneaking into Professor Ancient Runes' office.
He was greeted by Valen.
"Is the professor still in Classroom 7?" Ron asked in a low voice.
Valen nodded chanically. Based on past experience, it knew its snacks were in jeopardy again. Ron hurriedly slipped inside. Inside, an animated movie was playing.
There were fruit preserves and Professor Snape's assignnt for Valen on the table.
Except for the first ti when Felix was present, the remaining occasions were all attended by Ron with Valen. As for the reason—Valen wanted soone to do howork with, and most of the ti, it was Hermione who played this role. However, she hadn't been around much lately, apparently busy researching how to transform into animals.
Valen found this idea extrely puzzling. It even double-checked with Ron multiple tis that the Animagus spell could only turn wizards into ordinary creatures, not magical ones.
Was there any point in studying that?
Valen thought about the series of forms it had seen from the Great Wizard—nightmares with bat wings, feathered snakes that could change size, the invisible creature, the vanishing and appearing Ball-Bear, the Thunderbird that controlled lightning, the White Stoat that split itself in two...
Because the list was too long, Valen, lost in thought, looked as if it were daydreaming.
Ron opened his backpack and took out his textbooks and parchnt. He paid a price for his actions—now he had to do his howork alone, with no one to refer to, but he did want to prove he could do it without relying on anyone.
Even though the results of these past few tis usually ended up with him and Valen watching cartoons and snacking together. But at least Valen's howork didn't require much thinking. It could write while watching, but he couldn't. This made Ron even more discouraged.
Was there really nothing he could do right?
Felix sat with a furrowed brow, unfolding a piece of parchnt. These days, there were only a handful of people he could really talk to—excluding Lavender, who seed to have taken a liking to him. Her omnipresence lately was rather unnerving, making her one of the people he needed to avoid.
Valen shifted its gaze away from the screen, examining the parchnt Felix was holding. It seed fine, no serial writing… Then it glanced at Ron, leaning in for a peek. Ron, on guard, quickly covered the parchnt with his hand.
"Hmm?"
"What did you say?"
Valen sighed, realizing that the road to widespread adoption of Sniffle-Speak was still long. So far, only three people could directly converse with it. Valen took out its wand and began writing in the air—it had beco quite adept at it: 'Dear Collins, who's that?'
Ron gasped.
"Her na is Collins, not 'Dear Collins'—" he tried to explain word formation to a Sniffler, "It's a language used for writing letters, similar to 'hello'…"
The little stick continued to move, adding a few new words to the air.
'Dear Lavender?'
Ron shook his head vigorously, "No, that's not how you use it."
Valen squinted at him suspiciously, as if he were trying to pull a fast one.
...
As Felix erged from Classroom Seven, Ron was intently watching the screen, absorbed in the climax of a cat-and-mouse chase. His mouth was stuffed with strawberry-filled biscuits. "Professor?" Ron said nervously.
"Yes," Felix replied, "Here you are again. Still on bad terms with everyone?" Ron remained silent. "Well, suit yourself. I'll just tell everyone I've put you in detention. Just don't disturb ."
Suddenly, sothing crossed Felix's mind. "By the way, your birthday is on March 1st?"
"Yes, Professor," Ron replied, swallowing hard. "A month earlier than Fred and George."
Felix sat behind his desk, chin resting on his hand, lost in thought. Ti really flew by. The sixth-year students were beginning to co of age. At the latest... it should be Harry's group, almost a year later than Hermione. I wonder if their grades and birthdays are directly related.
Felix's movents suddenly halted.
Coming of age...?
If he rembered correctly, Dumbledore's blood protection spell on Harry would automatically expire when he ca of age, right? Felix stared at Ron thoughtfully, making him feel uneasy.
"Professor?"
"Hush, don't speak." Felix whispered softly, lost in thought.
Harry had two layers of protection.
One ca from Dumbledore, linked by blood relations, which would automatically expire when he ca of age; the other ca from Harry's mother, Lily Potter, specifically against Voldemort's killing curse, which should be permanent. But all spells had their limits. After withstanding and rebounding Voldemort's killing curse, how much longer could Lily's protective magic hold?
Felix couldn't be sure. But he did feel a long-lost sense of unease, as if... ti wasn't as abundant as he thought. After a mont of contemplation, he tore off a piece of parchnt, dipped his quill in ink, glanced at the calendar to find the nearest weekend—
"February 8th, outside Classroom Seven; keep it confidential, try to solve the problem at 8 a.m."
After folding the note, Felix handed it to Ron.
"Deliver this to Harry for ."
Ron's hand hung in the air, hesitating. "Professor, can Hermione deliver it instead? I... I'm busy right now—"
"That's fine," Felix didn't insist.
"Professor, what's the note about?" Ron asked, swallowing nervously. He suspected Felix was trying to secretly help Harry, just like that Professor Babbling.
"Well," Felix looked at Ron with a asured gaze, "it's nothing, really. You should already know—it's about the person locked away in Classroom Seven, right?"
"...The mysterious one."
"Yes, it's ti for Harry to face him."
Clatter.
Ron's cauldron cake fell to the ground.
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