Chapter 75 Expecto Patronum! (Part 1)
The Acromantula horde was far larger than Lockhart had imagined.
These adult creatures, their bodies comparable in size to elephants and their leg spans resembling small hills, required vast habitats as their population continued to multiply.
Deep within the dense foliage of the Forbidden Forest, the interconnected spider lairs stretched for an unknown distance.
Lockhart stood on the trunk of a large tree, gazing around. All he could see were massive dark shapes moving through the moonlit woods.
This scene was quite good.
His eyes scanned every corner. The night forest was veiled in a hazy moonlight, similar to the visual feel of the Slytherin Chamber's sewers. These monster nests, with their numerous seemingly interconnected openings, were perfect as a backdrop for the story chapter "The Chamber of Secrets of Hogwarts."
As he observed his surroundings, a huge Acromantula slowly descended from the canopy above, its massive, jagged pincers slightly opening and closing.
But soon, the color drained from his figure, turning pale and monochrome.
The Acromantula lunged, passing straight through his body, shuddering at the ghostly lack of warmth and the fading of living vibrancy.
Lockhart glanced back at it, floated up lightly, intending to wander around and gather more useful material.
His unique ghostly state allowed him to easily pass through all the obstacles in the forest. The beast paths of the spider lairs were mostly not too long, intermittently piercing through small hillocks, densely forming a vast network.
This scene clearly needed modification. Acromantulas' habits made them prefer dense, wooded jungles rather than dark caves, which were merely places for them to sleep or guard their young.
Walking along…
Floating along…
Lockhart suddenly felt an indescribable sense of unease.
It didn't hinder his movements in any way, but there was an inexplicable discomfort.
He thought for a moment and simply stopped in place, closing his eyes to carefully sense the state of his own magic.
It took some time. In his ghostly state, he felt as if there was a barrier between him and his magic, and even his thoughts became less sharp.
Finally, he felt it.
It was the Patronus Charm!
It was conflicting with his "ghostly state."
Mastering magic sometimes meant more than just learning an attack or defense.
Especially the way he grasped magic; every spell followed the path of how his original self controlled the Memory Charm.
The greatest gain from digesting his original self's fairy-tale adventurous life wasn't mastering a top-tier Memory Charm, but rather understanding how wizards could control magic to its extreme.
The Memory Charm could do it, so why couldn't other magic?
The Memory Charm was tied to his original self's life, experiences, and even beliefs. He also had his own life, experiences, and even beliefs. Why couldn't he possess another top-tier magic, or even countless others, following the same path?
He wasn't trying to become his original self, continuing that life, but rather to digest it and forge his own path.
Magic was choosing the wizard!
And the wizard was approaching magic!
When they resonated, a marvelous fusion occurred between magic and the wizard's life and experiences.
And now, the resonance between him and the "Patronus Charm" was being tested.
In his ghostly state, he had strayed from the path of the "Patronus Charm."
The principle here was actually quite simple.
The feeling of being in a ghostly state was peculiar, as if everything in the world was no longer related to oneself. The heart felt empty, unable to generate any desires or spirituality. Everything within sight was pale.
This paleness was knowing that one should have some emotions, should have some thoughts, but there was just emptiness, nothing at all.
Perhaps it was like Snape had said, "Life itself has no meaning, everything becomes real in the path we walk."
Losing the possibility of truly touching this world also meant losing all meaning.
And the Patronus Charm was the exact opposite.
It was the understanding of the beauty of life, the love of life, transformed into magical power, guarding his soul.
In the wizarding world, death was not the end of life. Dumbledore had a famous saying, "Death is but the next great adventure," a new journey of life in a different state.
And a ghost, precisely, was a choice that strayed from the journey of life. It was the result of clinging to the world and being unwilling to leave, a state where life had abruptly stopped.
"On the path of magic, there are always choices to be made~"
Lockhart sighed, finally making his decision.
He yearned for a real life, a vibrant life, a passionate life. Regardless of how much benefit the "Patronus Charm" could bring him, regardless of how useful the "ghostly state" was, his choice was so firm.
Color reappeared in his life, and his figure in the Forbidden Forest became real again, with flesh and blood.
Thus, magic rejoiced.
He could feel the jubilation of the wand in his hand, magic flowing through, spirituality surging.
He could feel his own breathing interacting with the air in this forest, so natural and harmonious.
He could feel the information from his companions, so warm and familiar.
He could feel everything.
This choice didn't mean he couldn't continue to use the ghostly state in the future, but it would only be used as a last resort in an emergency, a trump card to avoid the threat of death.
And the "Patronus Charm" felt within his spirituality now began to change.
He looked at the wand in his hand, as if he could see silver halos of the Patronus Charm surrounding him, drifting outwards like light gauze or ripples, layer upon layer.
What was the use of this?
He wasn't entirely sure.
But it was truly fascinating.
So marvelous and mysterious, as if his soul was veiled in a silver, dreamlike curtain, drifting and swaying.
"Expecto Patron…"
He waved his wand, preparing to cast the spell and see its effect, but at this moment, the little Goldie in his wizard robe pocket quickly darted out and climbed onto his shoulder, looking around vigilantly.
Not only that, but Mourning Myrtle also emerged from him, floating behind.
The Boggart transformed into the tall, burly "Upside-Down Corpse God," and the Occamy spread its wings, circling above his head.
Such a state of alert…
Lockhart looked up and found that Acromantulas were crawling out of every opening of the surrounding spider lairs. The dense woods were filled with shadowy figures, tall dark shapes layering upon each other, surrounding the area.
"The smell of humans~" A mature Acromantula's eyes were full of greed as it twisted its body, seemingly taking a deep breath, sighing contentedly, and excitedly opening and closing its massive pincers rapidly, making a clicking sound.
It wasn't just this one that looked hungry; all the surrounding Acromantulas were the same.
The sound of their pincers opening and closing echoed densely in the quiet Forbidden Forest, particularly frightening.
"Let's begin."
Lockhart glanced around, then continued to look down at the wand in his hand, carefully sensing the changes in the magic within his body.
He hoped to grasp every trace of change, accumulating experience for mastering other magic in the future.
This was the path of a master, he was very clear about it. Following this magical path, his future magical achievements would definitely not be lower than those of Dumbledore, Nicolas Flamel, or Grindelwald!
He had that confidence!
But soon, he couldn't help but have his attention drawn back to the Acromantulas.
The little Goldie on his shoulder angrily chirped, seemingly dissatisfied that only nearly half of the Acromantulas were affected.
This was beyond its expectations.
Lockhart also found it surprising.
He looked around and saw the Boggart, Occamy, and Mourning Myrtle( worng fairy) all using their own means to fight against the other Acromantulas that were not affected by the little Goldie's magic of fear and despair.
"How is this possible?"
Lockhart was somewhat puzzled. If the magical creature before him was Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, then he would naturally have nothing to say; its powerful magical resistance was there.
But these were Acromantulas.
The level was different.
In the original story, during the Triwizard Tournament, the organizers of Hogwarts released an Acromantula into a task as a mini-boss, believing that capable young wizards could handle it.
If they had put Fawkes in there, with Harry and Cedric's abilities at the time, no matter how they teamed up, they wouldn't have been able to pass.
He couldn't help but frown, recalling the hint the forest had just given him—"Squawk~ Minions of the devil~ Squawk~ Minions of the devil~~~"
Devil?
He quickly searched his memories, his thoughts constantly scanning through web novels, original movies, short videos, etc., from his previous life, but ultimately found nothing.
What kind of devil popped out in Harry Potter's second year in the original story?
This wasn't right, was it?
His thoughts raced, and suddenly his expression shifted.
Could it be…
Because of his arrival, some so-called "butterfly effect" had occurred?
Tom Riddle in the Horcrux diary, because he had taught Ginny to resist the influence of dark magic, had decided to seek help from other places?
His guess was quickly confirmed.
As the clamor of the battle unfolded in the depths of the spider lairs, it clearly alarmed the leader of the colony, Hagrid's pet, Aragog.
Its size looked even larger than ordinary adult Acromantulas, but it also looked quite old and frail. Its movements weren't as agile as those of its offspring, and a large patch of its black bristles had fallen off, revealing skin wrinkles that looked like clusters of fleshy tumors.
Of course, the biggest difference should be its eyes.
According to the information in the original story, it seemed to have cataracts. Unlike the black eyes of normal Acromantulas, its eyeballs were all a dull gray-white.
This aging seemed to have made it abandon the principles it had maintained throughout its life, no longer restraining its offspring and allowing them to attack humans.
To be honest, Lockhart didn't quite understand. The intelligence of adult Acromantulas was actually the same as that of centaurs and humans. How could it not understand that such a lifting of restrictions would bring a catastrophic disaster to the colony?
This was Hogwarts with Dumbledore!
Even without Dumbledore, the other professors were all top-notch powerful wizards of their time. Any one of them could handle them!
But now Lockhart might have found the answer.
He looked at the spider leader slowly crawling out of the cave, his eyebrows slightly raised.
This thing was clearly not blind, or suffering from cataracts.
Although he wasn't particularly familiar with the life states of magical creatures, he was extremely familiar with certain magic.
This thing's state…
Wasn't it exactly like Ginny's state when she was influenced by Tom Riddle's Horcrux diary, similar to the Imperius Curse!
Yo~
Tom, I haven't paid attention to you for a few days, you've become capable, haven't you?
Lockhart smiled as he looked at Aragog slowly approaching, trying to use the pressure of its massive body to influence his mindset. He gently waved his wand, "Obliviate!"
In just an instant, a silver light appeared on the top of the Acromantula's head, and strands of silver light drifted out.
But soon, Lockhart's gaze changed.
As if sensing something, he hurriedly focused all his will, feeling a powerful counterforce during the casting of the spell.
Buzz buzz buzz~~~
An extremely uncomfortable, high-pitched sound began to echo in his ears.
A powerful airflow surged between the wand and Aragog, constantly whistling outwards. Immediately afterward, faint currents of electricity seemed to appear in the torn air.
Finally, a terrifying plasma formed between the tip of the wand in his hand and Aragog.
The plasma surged, the aura of magic filled with killing intent.
Not right!
Lockhart's heart screamed wildly.
Not right!!!!
This was definitely not Tom Riddle. He knew Little Tom's situation very well. With his interference, Little Tom's attempts to manipulate Ginny had been somewhat controlled, and he couldn't possibly possess such powerful magic.
This was…
He struggled to maintain the spell, looking through the dazzling light of the magical plasma. A bizarre human face suddenly emerged from a tumor right in the middle of Aragog's head.
It looked a bit like Little Tom, but more mature.
The most striking feature was—it had no nose!
"Holy crap!!!" Lockhart couldn't help but shout in his native language, looking at this scene in disbelief. "Voldemort?!?!"
The face seemed to awaken from sleep, slowly opening its eyes. In the eye sockets were a pair of extremely eerie, snake-like vertical pupils.
The vertical pupils were full of fatigue and weakness, but also held an indescribable indifference and coldness.
Looking at him coldly, "Gilderoy Lockhart!"
[author]
I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to those who support me on this journey. Your contribution make a real difference!
As a patron, you unlock:
Exclusive Access: Get advanced chapters ahead of everyone else.
👉 Join now: patreon.com/Chaos_God
[/author]