A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Chapter 30: Professor's Admirer

After finishing an entire piece of chocolate, Hermione finally began to feel normal again. Despite looking quite exhausted, at least her intellect had been rebooted.

"Professor, is this one of the drawbacks of the Room of Thought? I feel like I haven't slept for three days and nights, and then this exhaustion just suddenly washed over me." She described her sensations.

"This is one of the drawbacks: it accelerates the consumption of your energy, and this consumption accumulates continuously," explained Felix Harp, "You've just spent seven hours in the Room of Thought, but the level of exhaustion you're feeling might exceed fourteen hours."

Felix looked thoughtfully at her, "It seems we'll have to shorten your time in the Room of Thought in the future. I think three to five hours, twice a week, should be a more appropriate frequency."

Upon hearing the professor's suggestion to cut down her study time, Hermione was about to instinctively argue back, but the recent experience had left her shaken, and she agreed to Felix's plan.

Her attention quickly shifted back to the recent magic; she asked curiously, "Professor, how did you come up with this magic? It's simply incredible! I think the Ministry of Magic should award you a Merlin Medal!"

Felix shook his head and said softly, "This magic is still far from perfect. I initially thought—it would allow me to gain several extra hours, even dozens of hours, out of thin air. But in practice, I encountered too many troubles."

"The essence of this memory magic is to speed up your thinking process, currently by—" he glanced at the clock, "about three times."

Hermione also turned to look at the clock, her expression very complex, "I spent seven hours in the Room of Thought, and only two hours have passed outside. This is truly a miracle!"

If others were to learn this magic, how much time would they have for studying!

But not many people could withstand the side effects of the magic, most likely.

And they would also need Professor Harp's assistance...

It seemed she was the lucky one, Hermione thought gleefully.

Felix continued to explain, "The Room of Thought is not the real world; fundamentally, everything in it is constructed by your cognition. Have you realized its problem?" Felix asked.

Hermione thought for a moment, "It reflects our own understanding of the outside world, which means—it means, we can't get accurate feedback! No, I could definitely practice runes inside."

The young witch's thought was that the foundation of the "Room of Thought" was built upon the wizard's understanding of the outside world, so it couldn't "create" something they weren't clear about, like—using the Room of Thought to brew potions, practice magic, and of course, learn runes.

But this contradicted her own experience.

Felix looked at the young witch with interest as she struggled to put her thoughts together, her expression one of deep concentration—Professor McGonagall's assessment of Miss Granger was quite accurate.

"That child is very eager for knowledge; she always manages to grasp the knowledge from books faster than others. Of course, her talents might not match yours, but I think you're an exception..."

Indeed, she was an exception, especially since she had a particular advantage when practicing spells. His perception of this witch had been constantly evolving, from a familiar stranger to a recommended assistant, and now, a hardworking academic achiever.

Truly worthy of being one of the original trio of main characters. Few could rival her potential.

What about the other two's talents? Felix wondered.

The clock ticked on.

"Could it be because of your existence, Professor?" Hermione's eyes lit up.

Felix Harp looked approvingly at her and revealed the answer, "I'm the one using magic, so the Room of Thought is constructed based on my cognition, at least mostly. And that means—"

"It means that your understanding of ancient runes extends beyond mine!"

Hermione suddenly realized, "Your understanding of ancient runes far surpasses mine, which is why I can practice ancient runes within your cognition."

In simple terms, Felix was the creator of the "Room of Thought," and Hermione was his invited guest.

Following this thread of thought, Hermione continued to deduce, "So, what's the effect of this magic on you, Professor?" It seemed rather insignificant.

Felix shrugged, "It's still somewhat useful. I have all the books I've ever read here, which allows me to quickly review the knowledge I've learned. Or when I want a period of undisturbed contemplation, it's very convenient."

In fact, Felix initially developed this magic as a combat spell—using it to gain supercharged dynamic vision and reaction abilities.

Coupled with his sixth-level Phantom Shifting and being knocked unconscious, he could move as swiftly as a dart.

He had this idea back in his fifth year, but he had no clue until he graduated.

Frustrated, he had to carry a vial of potion with him and use it to enhance his reaction speed by "quaffing."

It wasn't until he read numerous research papers about the brain and thinking in the Muggle world that he made progress, though it was unfortunate that this progress ended up being applied in teaching.

A long road lay ahead.

Putting these thoughts aside, Felix advised her, "The Room of Thought and the real world are not the same. In the coming week, you must practice continuously to turn the illusionary sensations into genuine reality."

Hermione's current state was like she had just played a VR game and learned the skill of "cooking." If she were to return to reality and start learning to cook, it would be like having a tenfold experience boost, but if she didn't put in any extra effort, that somewhat "illusory" experience would quickly fade.

Today wasn't the day for it; she was too exhausted.

"Professor..." Hermione hesitated, biting her lip, as if she had something to say.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," Hermione quickly replied.

She had seen Malfoy leaving Professor Harp's office on her way here. Could it be that Malfoy also received the professor's help and was training in the Room of Thought? She wanted to ask the professor, but couldn't find a suitable excuse.

Perhaps Ron would know?

Ever since the "slug" incident, Ron had been paying special attention to Malfoy, especially news of his misfortune.

After resting for a little over ten minutes, Hermione still looked a bit under the weather, but it wasn't a big issue. A good night's sleep back in the dormitory would fix it.

...

In the evening, in the common room.

Hermione asked Ron about this question and unexpectedly, he knew about it.

Ron grinned widely with delight, "He's been put in detention by Professor Harp. It's been three days now... Apparently, Professor Harp thinks he's been disrespectful to his classmates, so he's making him copy books as a punishment."

"Copy books?" Harry asked curiously. Seeing his old rival's misfortune made him quite pleased, and he couldn't wait to hear more details.

"That's right, completely hand-copying them. I overheard him complaining to Crabbe and Goyle about it. They're two massive tomes, stacked together they're at least three inches thick. It'll take him a month at least."

"What books?"

"I caught a glimpse, didn't see them too clearly, seemed to be something about Muggles." Ron furrowed his brow in thought for a while, "Wait! I remember, Malfoy mentioned something, griping that Professor Harp's books don't sell at all, they can only be used as tools to punish students."

"Are they 'How Muggles Think' and 'A History of Muggle Struggles: Starting from a Million Years Ago'?" Hermione said both book titles in one breath.

Ron scratched his head, "Sounds about right... but how did you know?"

Hermione didn't reply, but dashed back to the dormitory and soon returned with two books.

They were indeed massive... Harry thought. He looked at the spines and they were exactly the two titles Hermione had mentioned.

Ron's mouth fell open, "Hermione, don't tell me these are your pastimes."

"Do you have a problem with that?" Hermione retorted assertively.

Harry took one of the books and flipped it open from the middle, finding pages upon pages of text that made his head spin. "Hermione, do you really need to read these kinds of books? I mean, we've lived in Muggle households since we were kids."

Hermione looked very pleased, "Looking at the Muggle world from a wizard's perspective is still quite interesting. And Professor Harp's books are really well-written; the perspectives he brings up are ones I'd never think of."

Then she added with a hint of resentment, "Malfoy is really getting off easy; if it weren't for Professor Harp, he'd never get to read such outstanding books in his life!"

Hermione generously praised Felix Harp, and the two boys exchanged a glance, silently sharing their thoughts—had Hermione's admiration shifted from Lockhart to this Professor Harp?

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