Chapter 74 The Original Story
Teaching was a very interesting thing for Lockhart.
For him, it wasn't just a job, but also a way to sort out his own memories. Every question from the young wizards would trigger his thinking, thereby connecting more information and continuously constructing a complete knowledge system.
Another gain was that after he finished the theoretical lessons, Professor Snape would take over the practical training, and then he could learn even more.
Old Snape had a lot of insights regarding the Patronus Charm.
Wonderful.
Beyond that, teaching had a deeper meaning for him—it was the process of him truly touching and entering the fairy tale of Harry Potter.
Communicating and interacting with the characters from the original story, creating different influences on them.
Gradually, these people became real to him, and the perception of "the original story" constantly faded in his mind.
"The original story" was no longer "the original story." The Harry Potter fairy tale had become different because of his participation.
This was a wizarding world with "Professor Lockhart," and it should be a brand new fairy tale.
So real and vivid!
The wizarding world was interesting, magic was interesting, dark magical creatures were interesting, and even the young wizards were interesting.
Lockhart had never felt his own existence and the meaning of his existence so clearly.
This feeling was too wonderful.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A silver light shone from the tip of the wand. This misty aura spread like ripples of water, constantly swaying in the office, soothing the hearts and souls of every living being.
Unfortunately.
Lockhart's feeling of life's beauty didn't seem to have materialized yet. The Patronus he cast was still just a silver light.
But there were some different changes.
The originally somewhat nervous Snidget, the Mourning Myrtle, and the Boggart—these dark magical creatures that resisted the power of the Patronus Charm, who had been fearfully hiding and shivering in their respective little nests, were now, as this dreamlike silver light washed over them, actually enjoying a feeling they had never experienced in their lives.
Pleasure?
Happiness?
No, this feeling was wonderful. It seemed to soothe the soul, gently stroking their fur, even their spirits.
The office fell into an extremely unique atmosphere of peace and tranquility.
These dark magical creatures, like the Snidget, could suddenly clearly feel the restlessness of their past lives beginning to settle down. They squinted, looking at the man lazily leaning against the tree trunk, their eyelids drooping.
Then these dark magical creatures fell asleep just like that.
For the first time in their lives, they fell into an indescribable sense of relaxation.
Moonlight streamed in, reflecting the magical light, and the chirping of insects outside the window drifted in with the gentle breeze. Everything was so beautiful.
Yes, beautiful.
Perhaps that was how everything should be described.
Lockhart felt the magical light with a dreamy gaze. He didn't even need to delve into the beauty and joy of his own heart. He just looked at the light of the Patronus Charm and felt it was so beautiful.
Magic…
Could also not be dazzling and intense, but could also be so peaceful, so peaceful that one couldn't help but be enchanted by it.
Interestingly, the light and shadow effects of magic in the wizarding world had always been a mystery.
For example, the Disarming Charm. Its casting effect had no light or shadow, but it seemed that when the intensity reached a certain level, it would gain a light effect. At its most extreme, it would even turn into a surging plasma.
And like the Patronus Charm before him, it was also so special.
Silver-white light.
Magical light of this color was not common, but Lockhart was extremely familiar with it.
Because the memory threads pulled from his head also had this luster.
Constantly searching his memories for various silver magical lights, the most common ones he encountered in daily life were the ghosts in the Hogwarts castle grounds. They also had a similar hue, although leaning more towards pearly white or even pale white.
Was there any connection?
Lockhart didn't know for the time being.
This didn't seem to have been studied in the wizarding world. Perhaps if he continued along his magical path, there would be an answer.
Late at night.
The moonlight was hazy, and the cool silver light sprinkled down, casting a mysterious color over the quiet yet bustling Forbidden Forest.
Lockhart led his companions from the quiet Hogwarts, which had become silent due to human rest, towards the Forbidden Forest, where rustling activity was everywhere at night.
From the perspective of "mystery," nighttime in the wizarding world seemed to have a different meaning.
Thus, night walks also seemed to have a unique meaning.
It was a unique magical understanding and feeling.
Just like when he said, "Magic is the most extreme romance of fairy tales," and "Magical creatures come from fairy tales, dark magical creatures come from cult fairy tales," these were not tracing origins but a kind of magical understanding.
The "Forest's Darling" state of the "Forest Witch" was also a kind of magical understanding.
He walked lightly through this primeval forest. The owls on the treetops hooted to greet him, golden venomous snakes crawled out of the grass, caressing his instep and winding away, and unknown insects hummed for him.
After a short sleep, his companions seemed to have become lively. They were full of vitality, and unlike their past restlessness, they looked more spiritual.
The Snidget stayed on Lockhart's shoulder but couldn't help looking at the forest with anticipation. Encouraged by Lockhart, it excitedly jumped onto a nearby treetop, chirping and hopping, occasionally disappearing into the foliage.
The Occamy also spread its azure, seemingly glowing wide wings, flying lightly through the Forbidden Forest.
Mourning Myrtle just floated quietly behind him, but she no longer maintained the witch's head that conformed to human aesthetics. The long ears on her rabbit head occasionally twitched slightly at the surrounding sounds.
On the contrary, the usually talkative Boggart was curled up in the pocket of his wizard robes, too lazy to move, dozing half-asleep.
Lockhart soon encountered other little companions in the forest.
The Dragon-Cave Rabbits with their magical rabbit holes, and the Lady Car that seemed to have driven in from nowhere.
Of course, there would also be some uninvited guests.
Acromantulas chasing after the Lady Car's tire tracks.
Well, perhaps to the Acromantulas, he and the Lady Car were the uninvited guests in the eyes of these creatures living in the Forbidden Forest.
Lockhart was not afraid of these Acromantulas, even if his companions were not around.
He gently waved his wand, as if he could feel himself merging with this forest. He nodded at these Acromantulas, and they rustled and disappeared into the darkness again.
"Go back to sleep~"
That was what he said, just like the Forest Witch in his memories had said to the forest creatures she persuaded not to attack her.
"Huh?"
"That's not right!"
Lockhart shook the wand in his hand, feeling the faint information transmitted by the forest. Suddenly, his expression shifted, and he looked at the group of Dragon-Cave Rabbits at his feet. "This shouldn't be the territory of the Acromantulas, right?"
The rabbits nodded quickly, their long whiskers shaking.
You know, even if animals held onto their prey, they generally wouldn't rashly enter the territory of other animals.
It was a matter of life and death.
The area Lockhart was currently walking through was the territory of a male Sphinx, guarding his wife and several cubs.
Sphinxes, with human heads and lion bodies, originated in Egypt and loved riddles and puzzles. They usually liked to turn into statues and remain motionless. They usually only became dangerous when the things they were guarding were threatened.
This was a powerful intelligent creature no less intelligent than centaurs. If it found Acromantulas running around in its territory, it definitely wouldn't mind enjoying an extra meal.
"They seem too active!"
Lockhart felt the forest's displeasure at the disruption of its order. He thought for a moment, raised his wand, and placed the tip near his mouth.
Soon, the wand changed.
The tip rapidly swelled and twisted, growing a pair of thick bird beaks with three light purple patterns.
"Forest, forest, give me a hint~"
He said.
The bird beaks at the top of the wand opened and closed, emitting clear and unique bird calls. The sound traveled far.
Such calls continued endlessly until a flapping sound came, and then they stopped.
A large green bird that looked very much like a parrot flew in from nowhere, tilting its head and staring at Lockhart with wide eyes. Suddenly, it spoke in human language—"Squawk~ Minions of the devil~ Squawk~ Minions of the devil~~~"
After speaking, it flew away again.
"???"
Lockhart looked at his surrounding companions somewhat blankly. "Can any of you understand what it meant?"
Everyone shook their heads.
Mourning Myrtle tilted her rabbit head, listening to the sounds of the earth, and replied, "It seems like a powerful dark force is influencing them?"
She wasn't sure. The sounds of the earth were also unfamiliar to her. She had only just embarked on this path.
Lockhart shrugged, simply too lazy to care.
"Alright, I'll remind Hagrid tomorrow."
He didn't like these Acromantulas, but that didn't mean he could slaughter these monsters at will.
Strictly speaking, these Acromantulas were now valuable property of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even Hagrid, who had initially raised that Acromantula "Aragog" in the Forbidden Forest, didn't have the right to dispose of them at will.
Lockhart's impression of these big spiders, besides these things, was that during the final battle, the Acromantulas had joined Voldemort's ranks.
Speaking of which, there was a reason why old Voldemort would fail. In order to achieve victory for his own side, he ignored the interests of the wizarding community as a whole and recruited werewolves, giants, Dementors, Acromantulas, and other intelligent creatures to attack humans. Such actions would definitely put most wizards on the opposite side of him.
This was no longer a confrontation between factions; it was a matter of principle concerning the living space of humans.
"Tsk~"
Lockhart shook his head.
Besides suddenly feeling interested, he had another thing to do in the Forbidden Forest this time.
That was to create a scene for the young wizards to adventure in for the new chapter of Caro's Bedtime Story Fairy Tale Book, "The Chamber of Secrets of Hogwarts."
The previous scene modeled after Slytherin's sewer chamber was no longer suitable to be used again.
He didn't want the young wizards to have any conspiracy theories about him after they learned about Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets in the future. Moreover, after fooling Lucius and his brothers once, it wasn't suitable to show it to everyone again.
So he pondered, why not simply build this scene into the appearance of a primeval forest, with a terrain similar to Slytherin's Chamber, so that the members of the "Dueling Club" could accumulate more experience and eventually find a speedrun method.
Thinking of this, Lockhart suddenly had an inspiration. "The Acromantulas' spider den might be a good scene!"
Excellent!
This idea was good.
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