Chapter 100: The Trial

On that evening at eight o'clock, a line of young wizards stood in the office of Ancient Runes.

Felix Harp leaned against the desk, one hand stroking his chin. "Hmm..." he surveyed these mischievous troublemakers.

There were quite a few familiar faces.

A total of nine young wizards, and surprisingly, four of them had red hair – Ron, the twins Fred and George, and Ginny.

The other five were Luna, Graham Montague, Marcus Flint, Eddie Carmichael, and Stebbins.

"Not a single house is missing," Felix spoke up.

"Let me think, Fred, George, Graham, Marcus, you four were in a brawl on the Quidditch pitch;"

"Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, you snuck into the Forbidden Forest to feed creatures;"N?00v€l--?1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

"Eddie Carmichael, you were caught selling banned potions;"

"And Stebbins," Felix raised an eyebrow in surprise, "you wrote over a hundred love letters to the same girl;"

"And of course, Ron Weasley, for improper behavior and pushing a professor."

Felix approached them; each one was talented in their own way.

"Professor, they attacked us first," Fred said.

"You were spying on our team's training!" Graham Montague exclaimed. He was in the same year as the twins and played Seeker for Slytherin.

"Didn't you do the same? Don't tell me Walden was just taking a stroll!"

Some wizards watched the scene with interest, while others kept their heads down in silence. The two youngest girls, Luna, played with her butterbeer cork necklace while staring intently at the argument, and Ginny remained quiet, her head bowed.

"Silence," Felix said. "Arguing won't change the fact that you're all standing before me."

"I've called you here today for some testing work. I need you to uncover any potential issues with it," he glanced at everyone, "I think this will be much more interesting than copying materials or dealing with weeds."

Felix flicked his fingers, and nine pieces of parchment floated in front of the young wizards.

Fred looked at the parchment in his hand. It was exquisitely crafted, emitting a faint magical glow. Apart from the intricate patterns engraved around the edges, the center was blank.

"Oh, by the way, you'll need some makeshift desks and chairs," Felix drew his wand, and the various odds and ends on the table transformed into small desks and chairs, hopping and shifting.

At Professor Harp's gesture, the nine young wizards took their seats. Marcus Flint, being the largest, looked like a giant sitting on the ground. Felix had to adjust the height of his desk and chair.

Several of them stared at the blank parchment.

"Professor, what are we supposed to do?" one asked.

Felix explained, "The parchment before you is my new teaching tool, and your task is to answer the questions written on it. Of course, before you can use the tool, you need to activate it. To do so, place your wand on the parchment and say, 'I enjoy Ancient Runes.'"

Ron confidently chose the 'defeat it' option and even showed it to Ginny. However, the parchment displayed several blood-red words—

"Your fate is lamentable. If there's a next time, run faster."

Luna burst into a fit of night owl-like laughter at the spectacle. She laughed so hard she was practically out of breath. Ginny patted her back to calm her down.

Ron seemed a bit annoyed.

Marcus Flint faced mostly questions related to Ancient Runes knowledge. The earlier questions were relatively easy, and each time, the parchment praised him with "You're amazing," "You're the next runic expert," "Incredible victory."

Then, he proceeded to answer seven consecutive questions incorrectly, causing the parchment's evaluations to plummet: "Somewhat poor," "Did you really study?" "What's in front of you, a giant maybe?"

His face visibly darkened.

However, the next question was about magical history: 'When was the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy signed into effect?'

Marcus struggled for a while and chose the first answer, '1637,' purely a wild guess.

The parchment displayed several exaggerated sketches of figures, depicting them ganging up on a large, monstrous-looking being.

Accompanying the images was explanatory text: 'The Statute was signed into effect in 1689. If you don't want to be treated like a monster, remember this!'

Marcus rolled his eyes. Who has time to remember that?

Eddie Carmichael's questions were mostly about the consequences of selling banned potions.

"In 1927, Dark Wizard Campos sold subpar Babbling Beverage potions. What happened later?"

He looked at the options, 'When he bought supplies, another Dark Wizard killed him,' 'He was sent to Azkaban and sentenced to ten years,' 'He got away with it and retired peacefully.'

Eddie Carmichael eagerly chose the last option.

Sudden dark red writing appeared on the parchment, resembling dried blood.

'Campos was attacked by his partner while buying supplies, later captured by Aurors, sentenced to ten years imprisonment.'

Eddie swallowed hard. But it wasn't over; the next line read, "Campos died after only seven years in Azkaban."

Most of the other young wizards encountered similar questions related to their own misdeeds, making them sweat profusely while answering.

Behind his desk, Felix Harp leaned back in his chair, looking at the exquisite scroll in his hand, a wide grin on his face.

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