Chapter 215
The next morning, Felix met with the old Lady Longbottom at the door of St. Mungo’s as usual, and then he treated the Longbottoms, and as time went on, he became more and more skilled at piecing together, categorizing, and sorting out memories.
At times, he felt like a masterful molder, having to handle trivial memories with caution and care, but even then, he couldn’t guarantee that nothing would be left out or missing in the process of assembling them.
Some memories will simply be lost forever, and there is nothing he can do about it. In fact, his job is to build up a stable memory structure and follow a certain logic, adding in memories little by little until the process reaches a certain point where the human self-repair function kicks in, and there is no guarantee on how long it will take to heal in the end.
” Miriam already has some suspicions.” Old Lady Longbottom said, “I told her that you are an expert in healing.”
Felix said calmly, “It is normal to be suspicious when a stranger, like me, comes once a week, but we should still have to stall for a while. It doesn’t really matter much whether we find out by November or before Christmas.”
Lady Longbottom agreed with him, she simply concerned, and by the time St. Mungo’s noticed the obvious difference, it meant that her son and daughter-in-law had shown signs of improvement, and by then no one would be able to say a word.
“What’s more,” Felix smiled, “I’m almost done with my dissertation.”
“Dissertation?”
” A treatment plan for memory repair, as suggested by Dumbledore. I am going to divide the thesis into two, the first is the interpretation and derivation of the theory, which should not set off any splash, the second is to add the data of this treatment, which will certainly cause great controversy at that time. I am going to post it around Christmas …”
Sometime in early October, the damp air quietly claimed the castle, leaving wet stains of moisture on the ancient walls. Every morning, large streams of cold mist coming from the depths of the forbidden forest, carried by the wind to the school, and swept up silver frost on the grass in the front yard, causing many young wizards who did not care to keep warm to catch a cold.
Even Professor Lupin, unfortunately, fell victim to it, and he had to wear a thick scarf, and his breath smelled of the tonic made by Madam Pomfrey.
Felix also received two letters on that same day, both related to the publication of his new books.
In the first letter, the Little Red Books sent him the “great” news that his new book, “Muggle World ‘Magic’,” had sold more than a thousand copies, and he would earn three galleons and seven sickles for each copy, so the first income should be around three thousand two hundred forty galleons.
However, the letter also mentioned that the bulk of purchase was from the Ministry of Magic of various countries and individuals interested in muggles – because of the fame accumulated from the first two books, many people would choose to buy the name “Felix Hap” in the first place when they saw it.
Of course, after that, there will be a huge drop in sales and then stabilize.
Felix is also very self-aware, his books are very stable long-running ones, but it will probably never become a bestseller.
The other letter is brought to him by Dobby, the elf is standing in front of him at the moment, looking at him with anticipation.
Dobby as usual is wearing his little suit, which is also much cleaner, with a brown fedora.
“Mr. Hap, your book, The Strange Adventures of Little Wizard Mick, is finished, and Mr. Andys asked me to tell you on his behalf,” Dobby said respectfully.
“Let’s sit down and talk.” Felix showed him to the couch in his office and casually opened the letter. The handwriting on it is very sloppy and matches Andys’ own style perfectly –
“It’s finished!
It’s impossible to describe how I felt at that moment, like climbing out of hell step by step and seeing the first rays of the sunrise …
If this book fails, I might get discouraged and just strangle myself, but that shouldn’t be possible, haha!
I’ve finished working with the Ministry of Magic paperwork so far, and there was originally someone tripping me up, damn pureblood trash! But I took Dobby for a quick trip and things worked out satisfactorily, and to this day I wonder if someone helped me or if that family backed off the case.
But all in all, Mr. Hap, you can look forward to your new book being placed in bookshops in 27 countries. The whole book is divided into seven volumes, with a single book priced at 13 sickles, and the price of the full package set at 5 galleons and 6 sickles. We’ll make about two galleons after costs – no match for professional books, but we’ll crush their sales tenfold if it explodes, I swear on my grandfather’s name!
If you have any friends in the media – which you certainly do – you’d better cosy them up and promote it, we’ll really be an instant hit.”
As well.”
Felix laughed dully, Andys really knew how to make requests when it came to media friends, he pretty much only knew Rita Skeeter, and he wasn’t paying much attention to how she is doing now.
” Dobby, I have a little more work for you to do, bring this note to this place for me.” Felix tore off a piece of parchment and handed it to him, and it flashed with sparks, emerging with an address.
After some thought, he took another pouch full of coins out of his pocket, “Here are sixty galleons, fifty for that woman – she’ll understand, and the remaining ten as your latest payments.”
Dobby’s eyes widened, and he crossed his fingers as if to calculate how much he is being paid, “Dobby, Dobby shouldn’t take so much money, it’s too much!” He yelped, shuddering with his every fibre standing up, looking like he might pass out at any moment.
Felix said gently: “Your performance is worth this salary, and, moreover, I need you to continue working for me. Your tasks will only be more, not less …”
Dobby struggled for a while until Felix finished his third cup of tea, and he reluctantly agreed.
“Tell me about the situation on Andys’ side.”
“Yes, the great and generous Mr. Hap. I stayed there every day, and Mr. Andys was so diligent that it reminded me of the days when I used to work. Two weeks ago, he finished the entire manuscript of the comic series and started preparing his staff for the bulk printing, with Dobby’s help!”
“Was there anything unusual about this process?.” Felix inquired.
Dobby thought hard, “Ah, Dobby thought of it! Mr. Andys got dressed one day, left the house, saying he had to go to the Ministry of Magic to register, and came back in a rage not long after. He didn’t explain anything, though later Mr. Andys took Dobby on another trip and introduced Dobby to some of his friends. Almost two days later, when Dobby questioned him, he said the matter had been settled.”
“Dobby thought it was odd, but couldn’t figure out why.”
Felix fiddled with the ebony wand in his hand and asked calmly, “Who did Andys take you to see?”
“A lot of people, but Dobby doesn’t know any of them … seems to be the director of this and that council member, Dobby got a little dizzy.”
Felix sighed, “Forget it.”
The elf gave him a cautious look, “Did Dobby have done something wrong?”
“No, Dobby. Next, you continue to keep an eye on Andys’ side for me, and if anyone goes after him, you remember that person’s name and what they look like.”
“As you command, Mr. Hap!”
“Now, you can go to the address I gave you, her last name is Skeeter, oh, she may not recognize you or the emblem on you, you will have to report my name.”
” Will Dobby only be needed to deliver the letter?”
“It’s a deal, though … I have no intention of letting her refuse.”
Dobby said confidently, “Visiting a stranger’s home is a job Dobby has done before.” With that, his ears dropped, “It was to deliver a letter for the Malfoy …”
“You’re free now, outside of work, you can do whatever you want,” Felix said.
He reassured the elf and then seemed to think of something, “By the way, I need you to help me with one more test.” He waved his wand and out of the tip flew a silver-white rain swallow, which chirped softly and landed on Dobby’s hat.
“What is this?” Dobby clasped his hat with two slender hands, and his large tennis ball eyes strained to look upward, but all he could see is a silvery-white beak.
“That’s my Patronus, you just need to carry it around with you, and when the time is up, it will disappear on its own.”
“Dobby understands, Dobby will take his leave.” He snapped his fingers lightly and his body disappeared with the Patronus.
Felix’s eyes went into a trance, and various passing images were reflected in his azure eyes. After seven or eight minutes, a strong silvery-white glow emitted from his eyes, at the same time, he said in a deep voice: “Rita, it’s been a long time …”
Hundreds of kilometers away –
Rita Skeeter heard once again the voice that had made her heart flinch from the mouth of a silver-white Patronus, and after a moment, she said respectfully and wittily, “Yes, indeed, sir.”
———-
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