Chapter 138: Professor Tyra
The secret passage was dim, with not a torch in sight—though if there had been torches, it could hardly have been called a secret passage.
"Number thirteen passage leads to the Alchemy office and washroom," Fred said proudly, then quickened his pace.
"I think I understand why the books don't mention Professor Tyra," George said, his expression oddly thoughtful. "She doesn't like fame, right?"
"All right, we are here. Now, no talking. Wait quietly," Fred reminded them, then pulled a thin rope from his bag.
"This is one of our masterpieces. We have not named it yet, but that does not stop it from being extremely useful."
George tossed the rope to the ground. It stretched out on its own, snaking all the way to the end of the passage, then turning sharply to the right.
"Professor Tyra teaches on Mondays and Wednesdays. Other times, you will never see her. She is very busy. After class, she vanishes. If you miss her today, you will have to wait a whole week, because only on Mondays does she stay behind to mark assignments. Oh, and after she finishes marking, she lingers in a nearby corridor for a while. But we do not know where she marks, so we have to rely on this!"
The slender rope trembled lightly. Fred murmured, "Oh, not in this classroom, not here either. So we know. Take passage five!"
In a strange, tense atmosphere, Shawn followed the twins out from behind a large portrait. They leapt out and turned into a secret passage that opened only after six knocks.
"Lumos!" Fred's wand tip flared with light.
"Lumos!" George lit his wand a moment later.
"We will wait here. When we say you can go, take all your Alchemy books and 'accidentally' bump into Professor Tyra.
If you are lucky, you might get to talk to her. If you are unlucky, you will literally bump into her. Remember to put your notebook on top."
Shawn nodded. He thought the plan was rather advanced, but when he heard the Weasleys mention they had actually collided with the professor seven times, he stopped questioning it.
"Lumos!" He lit his wand and opened his copy of A History of Magic, which contained a section about Uagadou.
Uagadou was in Africa, founded over a thousand years ago. While Africa had many small magical schools, Uagadou was the only one to withstand the test of time and achieve international fame.
Their students excelled in Astronomy, Alchemy, and Transfiguration.
At one international Animagus symposium, the Uagadou delegation nearly caused a riot during their demonstration of simultaneous transformations, drawing much media attention. Many experienced witches and wizards felt threatened by a group of fourteen‑year‑olds who could turn into elephants and cheetahs at will.
Moreover, they cast spells using hand gestures, because wands were invented in Europe and had not spread there.
This often led them to break the International Statute of Secrecy. The Ministry of Magic could do nothing, since they claimed, "I only waved my hand. I never meant for his jaw to turn white."
The Ministry had to rewrite the rules overnight.
"Oh, it is time! Go now!" Fred said excitedly, shoving Shawn out of the passage.
At that moment, a silver‑robed professor with white hair and a very low air pressure was walking past, carrying a stack of parchment.
With a flick of her fingers—no wand—papers leapt into a newly appeared bin, then both papers and bin vanished.
Flora Tyra was always expressionless. Alchemy had been running for over two months, yet those young witches and wizards could not even tell Feoh from f.
They were just regional variations of the same rune.
The silver‑haired professor glanced at a thin string in the corner. Two of the vanished papers reappeared. A quill jumped out of the office and wrote something quickly on the parchment. The parchment then transformed into an owl, flapped its wings, and flew away.
Meanwhile, in the Great Hall, Pamela Patton and the Gryffindor beside her were hit on the head by a falling scroll.
Shawn watched this magical scene, his attention fixed on the bin.
"That is—Disappearance Charm, Vanishing Charm, Revealing Charm, and Transfiguration," he whispered.
"Not bad. Sharp intuition," Professor Tyra said, her voice low but clear enough for the Weasleys to hear, but not for Shawn.
"We have to help him—" Fred paced anxiously.
"He is a true Alchemy genius!" George nodded.
Unbeknownst to them, Professor Tyra's eyes now held a clear spark of interest.
She waved her hand, and the Weasleys, about to use magic to nudge Shawn, suddenly heard a loud noise.
It was an Extendable Ear, being chewed by the bin—that very bin.
"Caught! Retreat—!" The Weasleys vanished instantly.
"The Easy Introduction to Ancient Runes, A Runes Dictionary, A Magical Phonetics Table—how far have you got?" Professor Tyra asked in the corridor, where afternoon sunlight streamed through stained glass, making her silver hair look almost translucent in the golden light. Clouds drifted past, and the shifting light made Shawn's eyes sparkle.
"I have just finished memorising them all," Shawn answered honestly.
"Not bad," said the silver‑robed professor. She softened slightly as she saw a young witch and wizard, "You are interested in Alchemy?"
"Yes, Professor."
Shawn took out his floating quill, knowing his chance had come.
"A floating quill. Good rune array," Professor Tyra said, her interest obvious. She let go of the quill, and it remained suspended in midair. "Practice work. Not quite the first creation of an Alchemist, but good enough."
Her calm eyes now held appreciation.
When she was in her second year, she had also finished the basic rune arrays. The memorisation required in The Easy Introduction to Ancient Runes, A Runes Dictionary, and A Magical Phonetics Table was not as much as people imagined. But she had not rashly attempted to make alchemical items, following the reckless example of those two talented but mischievous young witches and wizards. That was only reasonable.
"How long have you been studying Alchemy, child?" Her voice was full of obvious interest.
"A month, Professor."
"A month? Oh, a month?!"