Chapter 114 Recognizing a certain Hogwarts Professor

Felix curled his lips and walked into the Assembly Room.

Extension Charm cast on the room, which looked small from the outside, but inside it looks like a small Hogwarts great hall.

The floor laid with dark, silky, dark wood, blue ceiling inlaid with glittering golden symbols, constantly moving and altering.

Two rows of torches were stuck in the walls on all sides, red flames burning quietly.

There were about twenty people in the assembly room, scattered in seven or eight small circles.

The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Oswald Fudge, is surrounded by the most people, he looked very active, full of smiles, his stomach stuck straight up, and he looked completely different from when he was at Hogwarts.

Not far from the door, Snape is talking to a tall, thin, middle-aged male wizard with curly brown hair.

"Professor Snape, you're here too." Felix walked up to the two.

Snape also looked at him with a surprised expression, his eyes fixed on Felix, and said quietly, "I didn't expect to see you here as well, I don't remember you achieving anything memorable in the field of potions."

Felix smiled: "Belby and I are friends and often correspond with each other."

Snape smacked his lips and didn't utter a word.

Felix turned his head to look at the male wizard, "Damocles, long time no see."

The male wizard in front of him is the master of the potion, that invented the Wolfsbane Potion - Damocles Belby.

Belby shook his hand warmly, "Felix, I'm glad to share my joy with you."

He abruptly came closer and said in a hushed tone, "I recently saw a new muggle play that was very interesting, and if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you do so."

"What's it about?"

"The story of a bunch of canine having a party?" He said, not quite sure. "Honestly, I always thought it's an opera, but the muggles call it a musical, and I can't figure out the difference."

"Well ...," Felix said, trying to remember.

Snape listened in amazement at their conversation with each other, even Hogwarts' Muggle Studies professor, Charity Burbage, doesn't get too involved in Muggle life.

That said, it is Felix who brought Belby into the pit.

The earliest acquaintance between the two was when Belby wrote a letter refuting some statements in his book, arguing that he is overstating the case, and was quite vocal about it. At the time, Felix only treated him as a brainless pureblood, and justifiably mocked him in a fancy way, with various data.

As a result, Belby really studied it seriously, and finally wrote a letter admitting his mistake.

The correspondence between the two people also became more, Felix also visited him several times.

This master of potion is introverted, not good at socializing, but in fact, the heart is delicate, also a little sensitive. In his letters, he was distressed that his obsession with the potion had alienated his relationship with his family.

Felix suggests that he and his family look for some common topics and find something to intersect between his own preferences and those of his family.

And Belby chose opera.

According to what Felix later learned, Belby invited the whole family to a very famous wizard opera at a family gathering, and they were all surprised by it, but gladly went along.

Later, Felix unintentionally mentioned that the Muggle world also has quite a few excellent operas ...

During the conversation, Belby pulled over a man, "This is my brother, Crest, Crest Belby."

Felix looked at the short man with the same hair colour, "Hello, Mr. Crest."

"Hello, Mr. Hap." The man said with interest, "I've heard about you from Damocles, and he held you in such high esteem that he bought a hundred copies of your book ..."

"Ahem!" His brother coughed twice with some embarrassment.

Felix: "..."

It didn't take long for other wizards on the scene to spot Felix, and they took the initiative to come over and talk.

" Hap, long time no see, I heard that you went to work at Hogwarts."

"That's right, I'm in charge of ancient runes. Ogden, are things busy at Wizengamot these days?"

"Not much going on, I don't even bother about that so much." The male wizard muttered.

Halfway through, Fudge also came to say hello, he hinted that he had a private party in the immediate future, Felix pretended not to understand and wished him all the best.

In the meantime, quite a number of people came into the room, most of them experts in the field of potions and members of the Wizengamot, as well as some working employees of the Ministry of Magic and three or two journalists.

There is a buzz at the doorway, and Felix looks up to see a short, fat witch in pink.

As she passed by, a strong smell of perfume hit him.

The witch walked right up to fudge and talked to him in a shrill voice.

Belby frowned and said, "She's the host for the day, that's my only complaint."

"That's-"

"Dolores Umbridge, Head of the Improper Use of Magic Office and, of course, a member of the Wizengamot. She doesn't have a very good reputation in the Ministry of Magic, very demanding individual ..."

The witch suddenly cackled, and Belby shut his mouth tightly.

Soon, the ceremony officially began.

Umbridge stood on the high platform and smiled sweetly at the thirty or so guests below.

"As a member of the Wizengamot, I am honored to stand here and preside over this award ceremony. I would like to express my special gratitude to Minister of Magic Cornelius Oswald Fudge for his trust in me, without his wise leadership ..."

Originally, Felix listened attentively, but when ten minutes had passed, he finally strayed away. Although he would be polite with strangers, never for such a long speech.

When she reached twenty minutes mark, the voices at the bottom of the stage gradually got louder. Umbridge had to draw her wand from her dress pocket and tap the wooden panel in front of her to silence the crowd.

Felix's eyes skimmed over the pink bow in her hair and stared at the wand in her hand - a birchwood wand of about 8 inches.

After another three or four minutes, and as the commotion broke out once more, Umbridge finally got down to business.

"Let us welcome today's protagonist - Damocles Belby, who has been awarded the second class badge of the Order of Merlin for his outstanding contribution in inventing the wolfsbane potion!"

Belby walked up with an expressionless face.

"-and the honored guests, Augustus Gray and Minister Cornelius Oswald Fudge."

The head of the Wizengamot Office, an aged wizard, trembled as he handed Belby a gold-plated certificate, and then was pulled down.

Then Umbridge handed Fudge a box, which Fudge opened with a smile on his face, and took out a gold medallion with a purple ribbon from inside.

Fudge hung the Order of Merlin on Belby's chest and shook his hand affectionately.

Felix noticed that the smile on Belby's face is very stiff.

The stage flashed with white lights and "clicks" for pictures.

Next, Fudge gave an enthusiastic speech, praising "Belby's outstanding contribution to the eradication of werewolves that have been a problem for centuries, a historic milestone."

Felix imposed a "Muffliato Charm" around himself, whispered to Snape, and quietly turned his head to the side.

"How come I didn't spot Dumbledore?"

Snape squeezed a sentence out of his mouth, "He rarely participates in these activities unless he thinks it is really necessary."

"Isn't he the head wizard of Wizengamot?" Felix asked.

"That's an honour, Felix. Wizengamot, other than judging a group of dark wizards at the end of the war, mostly spends the rest of the time minding petty chicken crap, do you think, Dumbledore would get involved in that?"

Under Snape's explanation, Felix reacquainted himself with this organization.

Wizengamot has a great reputation as the highest Tribunal in the wizarding world, functioning similarly to the combination of the Court and the Parliament. However, in the actual process, their authority overlaps highly with other departments of the Ministry of Magic.

The members of the Wizengamot can be viewed in two: most of the members are wizards reputable in various fields, who are invited to join in; while the other part of the members, the Office of Wizengamot Affairs, is responsible for the regular management and paperwork.

But they are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Magic.

This department is responsible for hearing all common violations. Only in controversial cases of greater impact will all members of the Wizengamot be invited to act as a jury and vote to decide.

Even then, the Ministry of Magic will often assign judges themselves straight out.

...

When walking out of the meeting room, Felix asked Belby, "Any plans these days?"

Belby took a long breath, "I'm going to take some time off and get exposed to something new - that's the advice you gave me, no?"

A thought suddenly appeared in Felix's mind, he looked Belby up and down, and just when the master of potion got a little hairy, he finally spoke out -

"Damocles, are you interested in experiencing a period of campus life?"