A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

"That's true for ordinary wizards," Felix explained. "So it might be diluted toxins, or saliva, or parasites or pathogens yet to be discovered on them... Anyway, there's no conclusion yet." Then he changed the subject, "But I once found a late-stage dragonpox patient in St. Mungo's out of curiosity. Unfortunately, there was no cure for him at the time. He was covered in bruises—of course, that was a minor issue. The real danger was that his magic also went haywire, undergoing some unknown mutation, rendering all existing treatments ineffective."

"That person must have been in a lot of pain," Mr. Tonks muttered.

"I suspect that late-stage dragonpox patients may have many hidden wounds inside their bodies. In fact, those wizards' bodies may already be riddled with holes," Felix said slowly.

"Hidden wounds?"

"I found a similar case. The anatomy of magical creatures is different from wizards. Their magical abilities rely more on the special patterns inside their bodies, which are integrated with their flesh and blood, making them difficult to detect. But they serve as channels for the flow of magic, or you could say... magic circuits. Therefore, magical creatures don't need to acquire spellcasting abilities like young wizards do through learning."

"I see," Mr. Tonks said, realizing.

"...But such lesions are undoubtedly harmful to wizards. Some patterns are chaotic, resulting in life-threatening situations, such as dragonpox; while others coexist strangely with wizards, having an impact but not fatal, such as werewolves."

Mr. Tonks took a deep breath.

A scream came from the doorway, Mrs. Tonks dropped the teapot in her hands. Felix waved his hand to let the teapot land on the table.

"Good question. I have identified and isolated the 'pathological patterns' that affect werewolves. Combined with what I said earlier, there is actually a great hope for a breakthrough. Of course, I am not an expert in this field, hence the party this weekend."

"That sounds convincing, Mr. Harp. I can't find any flaws," Mrs. Tonks said in a flat tone after a while, "But you can't deny that all of this is just theory, castles in the air... Even if the theory is correct, it may take many years to become reality."

Even though the conversation was approaching its core, both parties tacitly understood, but neither mentioned that name.

"I agree, Mrs. Tonks."

Felix said with a slightly cheerful tone, seeming to think that everything was going smoothly from his perspective.

"In the field of treatment, especially the part related to magical potions, I may not be able to intervene or achieve any groundbreaking results. However, don't forget, I am an ancient magical text expert. I always think about problems from the perspective of ancient magical texts. Fortunately, I have made some progress... Although it is extremely difficult and not suitable for large-scale promotion, it can still be used on one or two people to solve some tricky problems. Would you like to hear about it?"

Mrs. Tonks pursed her lips for a long time, then said coldly, "You're quite the persuasive talker, Mr. Harp—I'm willing to listen."

Half an hour later, accompanied by Mr. Tonks, Felix visited the rooms in the house.

"These are Dora's toys when she was a child," Mr. Tonks pointed to a row of stuffed animals on the shelf and said, "Originally, there were many humanoid dolls, but when we realized she was deliberately imitating the facial expressions of the dolls, we replaced them all with small animals, mostly rabbits and bears. But her aesthetic has deviated a bit, she obviously prefers violet or pink hair, rather than her own gray-brown color," he said somewhat hurt.

Felix understood in his heart that Tonks's original hair color clearly inherited features from both parents—striking a balance between light brown and gold, but she herself obviously wasn't satisfied.

They walked into the garden in the courtyard.

Mr. Tonks dutifully introduced various plants, "You've seen the pink ones, and the purple ones are here—we've planted quite a few violets of all kinds. Do you see that concave area in the middle? It doesn't look good now, a bit ugly, but when it rains, it fills with water. We'll choose to plant some aquatic plants there, like water lilies, oh, my God, they're purple too. I just realized..."

At this moment, there was a commotion behind them in the house.

"Someone's here," Mr. Tonks said in confusion.

"Is it Tonks and them?" Felix asked.

"I don't think so, it's still early, and Dora won't be off work for over an hour... it's strange," Mr. Tonks said, heading towards the house. They faintly heard voices.

Felix followed behind, turning his eyes, and he probably guessed who the visitors were.

"Hello, Sirius," as soon as they entered, they heard Mrs. Tonks's somewhat annoyed voice, "There's no need to bring so many things, the living room can't fit them all."

Then they heard a burst of hearty laughter.

"Oh—don't be so polite, my dear cousin. And I'm so familiar with Lemms that I can't believe he beat me here..." Mr. Tonks suddenly slowed down his pace, and even became a little stealthy. He quietly opened a crack in the back door, allowing Sirius's overly enthusiastic voice to be heard more clearly.

"...Speaking of Lemms, he's one of the few people I admire, brave and kind, always considering others first. I swear, the number of people he's taken care of over the years is far beyond imagination, even though he himself was poor, um, I mean, he used to be poor, but now he's quite wealthy, he could easily buy a house in Diagon Alley..."

Felix peered over Mr. Tonks's shoulder and saw Sirius speaking with a smile. He was dressed very formally today, wearing a smart suit with a silver-lined green handkerchief in his chest pocket, and the corner of the handkerchief embroidered with the Black family crest.

He looked like a groomsman.

But Felix wasn't sure if this appearance was counterproductive, or if it was due to Sirius's increasingly blatant hints. Because Mrs. Tonks's face grew darker and darker, her fingers tightly gripping the ladle for stew, as if ready to lift it and knock her cousin on the head at any moment.

Felix wanted to pretend not to see it, thus avenging Sirius for his past misdeeds against him, but considering the stability of Future World Company in the next few decades, he cleared his throat.

Sirius stopped talking and turned around incredulously.

"Felix? Why are you here so early?"

"What else could it be," Mrs. Tonks said with a straight face, teasingly, "of course, for the same purpose as you."

...

When, over an hour later, the nervous Tonks returned with the embarrassed Lupin, they were surprised to find that they received a reception that was not enthusiastic but definitely not cold either. Even when Sirius intentionally mentioned childhood memories, Mrs. Tonks's mouth twitched slightly, showing a hint of a smile.

After dinner, they said goodbye and left. Lupin walked out of Tonks's house lightly, half incredulous and half relieved.

Before parting, Sirius patted his shoulder, and in an instant, Lupin seemed to understand something, his eyes moistened. He hugged Sirius tightly, loosening only after a long time, then turned to Felix.

"Felix, this birthday is for me—"

"Work hard," Felix said, ruining the mood. Sirius rolled his eyes beside him.

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