The old man gasped briefly after saying a few words, his nostrils producing a subtle whistling hum.
“You don’t look healthy, and yet you’ve come to join the fun?” Felix cast a glance at him with admiration.
“I live nearby, otherwise I would not come, I could not bear the ordeal of the apparition.”
The old man shook his hand and his arm made a crisp “click” sound.
Felix suddenly felt a little toothache, he gradually, subconsciously extended his hand.
In the distance, there came a loud noise, a cranky wizard fired fireworks above the hotel, and his behaviour brought forth plenty of imitations.
Both showed a look of interest.
“Interesting, isn’t it?” The old man said gleefully.
“Indeed, I like the Thunderbird design.” Felix said, “I guess he probably came from Ilvermorny’s Thunderbird House.”
The old man’s eyes trailed the firework that looked very much like an eagle and said with some emotion, “I have rarely travelled outside over these years, but now I want to travel some more.”
“There are always a lot of new things out there.”
The old man first agreed, then shook his head and said, “People are different, but what happens is always similar.”
Felix said, “Is that so? I’d like to think that whatever I’ve experienced is unique.”
The old man laughed briskly for two seconds, ” the vigor that belongs solely to the eyes of the young – the habit of defining the world with their own eyes. But I’m old, and old people prefer to nestle themselves into a single place on their own world by using various rules as their ties.”
“Rules?”
“It’s really just some self-imposed restrictions based on certain disciplines that you tell yourself what you can or can’t do after experiencing some things with some people, and then strictly abide by it. It’s kind of like signing a magic contract, but with your future self.”
“Does that make some sense?” Felix asked.
“I’m not sure.” The old man replied, “But at least it keeps me entertained.”
“By limiting yourself?”
“It’s a philosophy of survival I’ve acquired by walking through a long life.” The old man said.
Felix did not approve of this type of practice, he hated being restricted and limited, especially self-imposed limits.
The old man dozed and rummaged through his pockets, and it took almost half a minute before he fished out a brass pocket watch.
“Click.” The pocket watch popped open, and on one side there is a dial, and on the other side, there is a photo.
In the photo, there is a young couple.
The old man murmured, “Her name is Perenelle, my wife, we met when we were at school in Beauxbatons, a nice girl, three years older than me, I still remember the first time I saw her, in a sea of flowers, I just laid my eyes on her …”
Felix winked, “I can see that you have a happy marriage.”
“Yeah, yeah …” His voice is almost inaudible.
For a while, neither of them spoke, and the fireworks in the distance had been stopped by the Ministry of Magic staff.
“Do you think they’ll come to some kind of resolution?” Felix asked, changing the subject.
“Frankly, I think it’s rather difficult, I’ve dealt with this kind of people … the MACUSA suffered a big loss on the Secrecy Act and won’t compromise easily.” The old man said, “They are very stubborn in this regard.”
Felix said optimistically, “Someone would force them to change their mind, if not this time, there will be another time, their opponents are still young.”
“That makes sense, the younger ones have a natural advantage.”
…
“I’m leaving.”
After a while, the old man said, and before parting, he gave Felix a small gift.
“Is this a … Sneakoscope?”
“Yes, very interesting gadget, I send out plenty of presents these days, probably has to do with the fact that my days are numbered.” The old man said with a smile.
“There are always some means for a wizard to live a long life, I know a witch who must be a hundred twenty or thirty years old and still in very good health.” Felix reassured the old man.
He is referring to Professor Griselda Marchbanks of the Wizard Examination Authority, who once invigilated Dumbledore’s NEWTs exams.
The old man smiled, ” It may not suit me … It is a pleasure talking to you, Felix Hap.”
“You know me?” Felix looked at him in wonder.
“Ha, a friend of mine recommended your book, it’s very interesting, Wizarding world needs a pair of eyes like you to look at the outside world.”
The old man waved his hand and left trembling.
…
Felix returned to the hotel, where the broken auditorium and scorch marks were all gone, and the hotel remained intact, as if the assault never happened in the first place.
He saw a Muggle research expert who is staring out at the statue in front of the hotel – its head had been smashed out a while back.
Felix received no difficulty from the staff and found the French Auror Maxwell without incident – he acted like a door guard at the moment, guarding the entrance to the auditorium, with three other French Aurors performing their duties alongside him.
“Still negotiating in there?”
” I would say, they’re still bickering.” Maxwell said.
“It’s rather quiet.”
“Wait a little longer,” he said with great experience, “three, two, one, here we go!”
From inside the auditorium came an exaggerated roar, “Marcus! As President of the Magic Congress of the United States of America, aren’t you to be responsible for the actions of your people! Look at the mess you’ve made! I’m so ashamed on behalf of you!”
“See, I was right, wasn’t I?” Maxwell gave Felix a pleasant look. “I love the minister, he’s been bashing that American bastard for half an hour.”
Felix looked at him a little speechlessly.
After the joke, Maxwell got down to business, “The meeting is cancelled, everyone else in the hotel has been told to leave, and this will be used as a temporary conference venue to discuss the current series of troubles.”
” It also means that I have to pack my things and leave?”
“No, no, it’s that colleague of yours, she left first and asked me to give you a heads-up.” He winked, “Lucky guy, you’ve gained the friendship of both the French and American wizarding communities, and while the latter is of little use … at least, no one can kick you out, and you can even request to sit inside through the entire negotiation process.”
Felix guessed that Celeste must not have mentioned that he snooped into her memories, but even if she did, it wouldn’t hurt him, and he had too many reasons to justify it.
On the bright side, he is the hero who had stopped the assault and prevented things from slipping in an irreversible direction, and he had saved the life of a student of Ilvermorny school. In that sense, everyone from the president of the Magic Congress of the United States of America, to the Headmaster of Ilvermorny, had to be grateful to him.
The same goes for the French Ministry of Magic. Felix is part of the unfortunate horde that was invited to the meeting and was unlucky enough to be targeted, but he saved the day with his own strength, and one couldn’t ask for more.
“Forget it.” Felix refused, he is not interested in this, there is so much chaos inside, he felt some sympathy for Dumbledore.
“What about the group of students?”
“Being observed by the two professors of Ilvermorny.”
…
Felix also did not want to stay any longer, he had to wait until a satisfactory outcome could be reached, maybe it may take the whole summer to end. He prepared to go back to his room to get his things and leave, Hogwarts still have a bunch of things left for him to do.
But just as he tidied his room, he abruptly felt he missed something.
“What is it?”
He quickly recalled the day’s experiences backward from ‘this moment’, from the conversation with Maxwell to the Muggle research expert in front of the statue to the casual encounter with an interesting old man …
“Perenelle, I think I’ve read that name somewhere before.”
Felix pondered, “No, that’s not the point, it’s a common name, but I’m feeling a strange buzz.”
He laid back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. The thinking room kept showing the scene of the conversation with the old man –
Half an hour later, he suddenly sat up and said in an uncertain tone, “Nicolas Flamel?”
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