YM778.TV Chapter 119
“Is it a two-way mirror?” Felix asked with interest.
“No, Felix, I don’t think so.” Filius pondered.
Professor McGonagall voiced her guess: “Perhaps it’s a wizarding newspaper?”
“A newspaper?” Felix looked at her; he had never thought of that before.
“Yes, I remember that Daily Prophet holds a similar technology, if there is a change in the data, the content of the newspaper will also change,” Professor McGonagall added, “Now this is rare, they prefer to change the content in the evening paper of the day.”
She recalled, “During the wartime, the Ministry of Magic issued several emergency notices with the help of the Daily Prophet …”
Felix is somewhat surprised, he had the impression that Daily Prophet does not follow journalistic integrity very well, they are probably more concerned about the sales of the newspaper.
That’s why they divided it into a daily and an evening paper, and a weekend edition of the Daily Prophet on Sunday.
But the Daily Prophet’s perspective as a whole leans toward the Ministry of Magic, so … is this the basis for cooperation that was laid a long time ago?
“Do they use synchronization enchantment too?” He wanted to know more about it.
“I think there’s more than just that – the newspaper probably uses multiple variations of charms on it, it’s an exclusive technique of theirs that you don’t see in other newspapers.” Professor McGonagall replied.
Felix pondered, in that way, it is indeed somewhat similar to his answer space, even more perfect – their newspaper covers the whole of Britain.
Except for the lack of interaction aspect.
” Well, not really.” Filius said, somewhat puzzled, “Strange, I wouldn’t forget this ….”
Professor McGonagall’s eyes widened, and she stammered, interrupting, ” That, that wouldn’t be the man’s mark, would it, Filius?”
“Oh, my God, of course not!” Filius’s voice became sharper.
Felix listened quietly, are they talking about the Dark Magic Mark?
He hadn’t studied it, but he is under the impression that it’s a type of magical contract with a tattoo that served to locate and summon, and perhaps Voldemort had added a personal twist to it?
A silent Belby suddenly said: “Speaking of which, I have seen a similar gadget in the Muggle world …”
“Yes, this is it!”
Belby’s words gave Filius some inspiration, and he said with a jolt, “I remember, I heard it from professor Burbage.”
Charity Burbage?
A Muggle Studies professor?
Felix recalled that he hadn’t met the professor more than a few times; she seemed to live outside the school throughout the year.
“Charity showed me a picture of it, it was square, and I don’t remember its name.” Filius looked at Belby, hoping for a response –
“Oh, I remember it being called as mobile?” Belby said, “I saw someone using it at the Muggle Opera House, and I asked him about it, and he looked at me weirdly, and I said I was from the countryside.”
And he grinned at Felix, which is mentioned in the ‘Methods of dealing with Muggles’ chapter given by Felix in his writings.
Filius gave Belby an affirmative look, ” That’s the thing ~ mobile…phone? Muggles are said to be able to carry on conversations across thousands of miles. Charity complained to me that the paper she wrote was simply ignored, they thought it looked like pie in the sky – all old school.”
Professor McGonagall, who didn’t really know much about Muggle items, asked suspiciously, “Is the Muggle world that advanced already? What do they rely on to solve the problem of long-distance communication?”
Now, Filius and Belby could not utter a word, their knowledge of this area is very limited.
Felix let out a soft breath.
He knew what kind of book to write this year – an introduction to the technology of the Muggle world. However, Professor Charity Burbage’s encounter gave him a good counter-example, if the initial start is something beyond the wizards’ wildest imagination, I’m afraid it won’t be able to set off a single splash.
The two books he wrote before introduced the history about the development of ordinary people and their way of thinking, something that wizards can understand, and he deliberately arranged numerous examples of interpersonal scenarios with relatively high usability – convenient for some public officials to follow the map and deal with ordinary people.
It is precisely for this reason that his book has been able to gain professional recognition.
It’s also convenient for him to clip some personal opinions that he really wants to express …
How should he organize the structure of his new book? Felix pondered.
‘It has to be simple, clear, and easy to understand at a glance. Never be afraid of less, just have more.’
Some simple mechanical devices, some energy harnessing prototypes, even simple reproducible physical feats …
He suddenly remembered talking to Miss Granger about Lockhart, who had mentioned that she admired the way Lockhart incorporated knowledge into his stories, “Maybe I’ll imitate it later on!” He said this to his assistant at the time.
Now it seems that he could write a fairy tale of “The Adventures of the Wizard Boy” by himself?
“Felix?” Filius looked at him.
“Just thought of something funny,” Felix said.
He put the matter of visiting Professor Burbage on his agenda.
As for the improvement of the answer space, he still had a lot of little wizards’ ideas that he hadn’t brought out, plus the two-way mirror, the wizard newspaper, the dark magic mark, the mobile phone, all these things could give him some inspiration and ideas.
Halfway through, the professors finalized their cooperation plan, with some regret from Belby, who was not good at this aspect altogether.
After the dinner, the young wizards left in small groups in silence, and some male and female wizards quietly disappeared from the large group, looking for secluded places to go on dates.
‘I wonder how many young couples Filch will catch tonight?’ Felix’s mind whirled with mindless thoughts.
Back in his office, he flipped through today’s edition of the Daily Prophet Evening News, and the front page news caught his attention –
‘ Gilderoy Lockhart Is Facing Seven Years In Prison, Fans Letters Blasting Ministry Of Magic.’
This intrigued Felix, and the paper mentioned that Lockhart deeply regretted his actions and that he is willing to heal and compensate those who have been harmed – in hope of escaping punishment.
He also put up a whopping 20,000 gold galleons to donate to various reputable wizarding organizations. Still, Wizengamot sentenced him to seven years in prison – a sentence that is clearly lightened from Felix’s point of view.
Besides, the dementors, which are feared by ordinary wizards, are not that intimidating to the occlumency master.
But for Lockhart, the loss of the dazzling aura and future is the most terrible sentence, right?
But that is not the most outrageous news of the day. In the margin, he found a piece of news that looks inconspicuously small –
‘The former editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet, Rita Skeeter, faced charges such as withholding information about Animagus for a long time and illegally acquiring others’ secrets for personal benefit, but yesterday, the Ministry of Magic suddenly dropped all charges and sentenced her with two thousand galleons penalty instead. It is reported that more than one Ministry of Magic high-ranking officials said that there is no direct evidence to prove Rita Skeeter’s guilt …’
Felix suddenly laughed: “Rita, ah Rita …” He has really opened his eyes now.
Gilderoy Lockhart and Rita Skeeter, who were extremely similar in a way, became famous male and female wizards by virtue of illegal means.
Lockhart even obtained a badge of the third class of the Order of Merlin, which represents honour.
But even so, when the crime got exposed, they ended up completely different – Lockhart received a reduced sentence but still went to prison, while Skeeter’s sentence is painless.
Felix’s light blue eyes reflected the night scene of Hogwarts in the night, and he is very curious at the moment: “Just how much do you know about the hidden secrets of the big shots, Rita Skeeter?”
A string of names of controversial high officials of the Ministry of Magic flashed through his mind –
Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Bartemius Crouch, Ludovic Bagman, Dolores Jane Umbridge, Pius Thicknesse …