CH64: There are bad people among the crowd

Dumbledore was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Have you had breakfast?"

"Yes, I have." Felix nodded, walked to the desk, and sat on a chair. "I recently noticed that there are bad people among the crowd."

Dumbledore's expression remained unchanged as he said slowly, "Felix, why did you suddenly say such a thing?"

"Because someone just tried to invade my brain and check my memory," Felix said seriously. "And this is a sign of a bad guy!"

Embarrassment flashed across Dumbledore's face, and he appeared a little surprised. "Legilimency is a very profound magic. No one in this school knows it except Professor Snape and me."

Felix glanced at him, and Dumbledore also noticed Felix's gaze, though his face still bore the look of someone needing a beating.

"Professor Quirrell doesn't seem like a serious teacher. Or perhaps you haven't used Legilimency to detect him?" Felix remarked.

"Generally speaking, I don't actually probe other people's minds at will," Dumbledore replied.

Felix could only laugh at this kind of rhetoric.

Whether it was the temptation of vault 713, inviting him to come to Hogwarts, or the words at the opening party, it all hinted that Dumbledore was up to something.

Coupled with Professor Quirrell's anomalies...

Perhaps, a unique game had already begun in the school.

"But since you said so, I will pay attention," Dumbledore said in a diplomatic tone.

"Okay, no problem," Felix waved his hand. Since the other party expressed confidence that everything was under control, what else could he say?

Even Flitwick noticed Quirrell's abnormality, so he didn't believe Dumbledore was unaware of it.

During the discussion last weekend, he had talked about Professor Quirrell with Flitwick.

According to Flitwick, the former Quirrell was a confident professor, not arrogant. After graduation, he had seen a lot of Muggle things and then came to Hogwarts to teach Muggle Studies.

Anyone who knew him before would never associate the person he was with the person he is now.

Completely different individuals!

"I'm here to work anyway. Since the boss said it's no problem, it doesn't matter," Felix nodded. "By the way, I want to know about Occlumency. After all, it's exhausting to be around people who know Legilimency every day. Is there any relevant information in the library?"

"You don't know Occlumency?"

Now it was Dumbledore's turn to be surprised. "Then how did you resist Legilimency before?"

Felix waved his hand. "Another method, some applications of human body refining techniques."

"Refining the human body?!" Dumbledore became serious. Despite his considerable knowledge in alchemy, Felix's words surprised him.

"Hasn't the human body been abandoned after being refined?"

Since the rise of alchemy in ancient Greece, some people had explored whether humans could be transformed into alchemical creations with unparalleled power.

Unfortunately, this line of inquiry remained a hypothesis. After all, humans are not artifacts. The idea of refining the human body seemed too fanciful at the time, and the methods of development and research were too cruel.

Therefore, ancient alchemists quickly abandoned this path in favor of focusing solely on the development of alchemy.

Felix said nonchalantly, "Perhaps at a certain forgotten historical juncture, this subject yielded some results, but they were buried by the sands of time. Then I was fortunate enough to uncover them."

Dumbledore suddenly realized that at his age, he no longer desired an in-depth discussion and instead said, "I believe Flamel would be delighted to discuss alchemy with you."

Felix's eyes focused on the peculiar silverware on Dumbledore's table. Each piece seemed to possess a life of its own, spinning and emitting small puffs of smoke.

"I also wish to learn from the most renowned alchemist in history," Felix said. "I am very curious about the so-called magical book of alchemy."

After speaking, he turned his gaze to a massive mirror nearby and asked curiously, "By the way, what is this?"

"This is the Mirror of Erised. Would you like to try it?"

There was a hint of encouragement in Dumbledore's tone, as if he wanted Felix to take a look into the mirror.

Felix stood up and walked to the mirror. This mirror was very tall, reaching two meters upward, with a gorgeous golden frame supported by two claw-shaped feet at the bottom.

Engraved on the top of it was a line of words. After taking a look at it, Felix realized that the specific content had to be read backward to make it clear.

"What I show is not your face, but the deepest desire in your heart!"

He looked at the mirror with great interest, curious about how magical this mirror was and how capable it was of analyzing people's hearts.

Then he saw a thick fog appear on the mirror and begin to flow continuously.

Felix also gradually became more intrigued.

The thick fog kept swirling... flowing...

After a while, he looked at Dumbledore awkwardly. "Is this thing broken? Why doesn't it show anything?"

Dumbledore was a little surprised. He had just taken this thing out not long ago. Before that, it had been idle in the Room of Requirement for many years. Was it really broken?

He stood up in confusion and came to the mirror. After looking at it for a while, he turned to Felix with even more confusion.

"Everything is fine. There is nothing wrong with the mirror."

Felix clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Then it seems that I am broken. Well, this is not surprising. Let's get back to the topic, Occlumency."

"On the seventh floor, in the third cabinet in the restricted book area, there is a book called 'Memory and Soul'," Dumbledore said. "But generally speaking, learning Occlumency still requires some external stimulation."

"Legilimency? It doesn't matter. I'm just using it as a reference. I don't have to practice it."

Dumbledore nodded slightly, obviously not bothered by Felix's decision, but asked curiously, "How do you feel during this time at school?"

"Very good," Felix nodded.

This was really not a lie, especially after going to the tavern with Flitwick last time. He seemed to have found some feelings... some sense of life.

In the beginning, he did accept Flitwick's invitation with the intention of discussing magic. After all, Felix did feel that they had a pleasant conversation during the afternoon tea on Friday.

So on Saturday night, he thought that would be the case.

Until Hagrid's arrival, various drinking games and interesting gossip took turns. Even though his modified body was not affected by alcohol and remained sober, it still couldn't stop Hagrid's carefree enthusiasm.

"That's good," Dumbledore smiled, looking at the owl flying from the sky, his deep blue eyes thoughtful.

"By the way, if you still have something to ask me for in the future, you can ask the magic painting below as you did before. After all, I am an old man, so I can't help but scare you like this."

"Okay," Felix nodded casually but didn't really care.

In fact, he was just too lazy to wait, and did so on purpose.

Definitely next time.