allendalepharm Chapter 273 The Demon Summoned by Prayer
Chapter 273 The Demon Summoned by Prayer
Chapter 273 The Demon Summoned by Prayer
A very interesting question.
—What is the true nature of using shapeshifting magic to turn trees into snakes?
The answer is simple: it is still a tree.
Even if a wizard were to kill the snake, skin it, and boil it into soup or roast it, according to the Gamp Transformation Law, people would still be unable to eat it and would have problems because of some indigestible substances in their stomachs.
However, Lockhart now has a new idea.
Because he may have figured out what exactly was missing that the dark wizard who created the Dementors was talking about.
It is vitality.
However, unlike the vibrant and expansive life that surges and transforms everywhere in the natural forest, the life affected by the Transfiguration is stagnant!
Using the concept he derived from his research on "Memory-Time-Magic Bloodline," it means that "time" in the real material world is simultaneously stretched and shortened to the extreme.
It's hard to describe that stretched and compressed state in words; Lockhart could only vaguely define it as "stagnation" at this moment.
This is very interesting.
Lockhart's philosophy of magic has never focused on exploring the true fundamental principles of magic, but rather on summarizing the apparent laws governing the operation of magic, and then using these laws to analyze other areas.
That makes sense, so it can be used.
And now, the idea that "the magic of transfiguration causes time to stop" actually makes sense.
This stagnation prevents the magical bloodline from being expressed because the magical bloodline itself relies on the movement of the soul in the "river of time" and on the life actions of material beings, and as a result, everything has come to a standstill.
This explains why wizards, using the advanced Animagus transformation spell, cannot transform into magical creatures, but rather into ordinary creatures.
Because magic cannot be expressed.
From another perspective, this can also explain the slightly conflicting definitions in the Gump Transformation Law, namely that wizards cannot conjure food out of thin air, but can cast enlargement spells on food to bring about real increases in production, as well as seemingly illogical refill spells.
That is, magic was expressed at a certain point.
Lockhart didn't know the specific principle, but he knew how to do it: to let 'vitality' flourish and spread again.
Life brought about a leap from 0 to 1, and then the magical bloodline had the opportunity to express itself.
This is the key to Lupin's ability to cast spells within a specific area even after transforming into a giant wolf!
"Let me try!"
Lockhart licked his lips and murmured excitedly.
He couldn't wait to test this idea, as it was absolutely crucial for him to forge his own magical path in the field of Transfiguration.
It's quite interesting that he thought he had entered a completely new field, but unexpectedly he returned to his original research area.
He tried his best to calm himself down and think carefully about the specific plan. He quickly found a suitable magic from the forest witch's past memories.
"The earth gives birth..." he murmured, his pronunciation leaning more towards that of an ancient wizarding tribe, as he lightly waved his wand. "Life bursts forth!"
This is a magic spell that makes grass bloom, trees bear fruit, and the surrounding environment burst with vitality.
It is also the most signature magic of the forest witch, which can create a forest in an unfamiliar environment.
Lockhart's first magical experiment involved being possessed by fragments of the Forest Witch's memories. She used this technique on the professor's office, turning it into a forest. (Chapter 19)
At this point, he no longer needed to cast the spell in a rigid, step-by-step manner; he could make the spell's effect target only the 'tree snake' he had conjured.
He tapped his wand lightly.
The half-snake on the tree trunk swayed and flipped in mid-air, bringing its head close to the ground before meandering forward along the ground.
As it moved forward, the lower half of the tree trunk began to 'snake-like', with a large portion of its body even emerging from the ground.
It eventually transformed completely into a giant snake.
Amid the exclamations of the young wizards, the giant snake coiled around them, twisted its body, and carried them onto its back, heading towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
We arrived near the Willow Tree.
Then the giant snake put everyone down, meandered around, found a suitable place for itself, and forcefully plunged its tail into the ground, continuously sinking it in.
As it submerged, everyone could observe that the snake's body was rapidly becoming woody.
The snake's head swayed and tilted back, hissing, until it finally transformed into a strangely grotesque, crooked-necked tree.
Without branches or leaves, just a bare trunk, it exudes a unique sense of vitality.
The eerie atmosphere inexplicably reveals a vibrant and energetic spirit.
Lockhart looked at the tree with great satisfaction, then turned to the young wizards and instructed them, "It's best not to go near it normally; it's alive."
If you get close to it, it will turn back into a 'tree snake'.
In fact, even without him saying it, the young wizard could sense the terrifying nature of this eerie tree snake.
It was enormous, larger than any snake they had ever seen, and mysterious—mystery has always been the underlying tone of magic—and the wizards could intuitively sense the threat emanating from it.
……
They returned to the enclosed stone house.
The Dementors, having been trapped here for so long, have begun to permeate and affect the entire stone house. Even the slightest touch brings a bone-chilling cold that seems to seep into the very marrow of one's bones.
This adventure has two more members: Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall.
Professor McGonagall sensed that the students were finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the effects of the Dementors, so she drew her wand and cast a Warming Charm on them.
This magic doesn't directly grant protective abilities, but rather activates the warmth within each young wizard's heart, using it as a way to resist the negative and gloomy forces in their surroundings.
The effect is good.
Many of the young wizards who had been gritting their teeth and enduring the pain breathed a sigh of relief.
Soon, they stepped back into the river of time and arrived at the Dementors' magical bloodline, walking through the huge, tattered robes.
No one knows how shocked Dumbledore was at that moment.
Old Deng knew that Lockhart had taken a very unique path in magic, and he had some guesses that it was related to the realm of time magic, but he never expected it to be like this.
He was amazed by every detail of the scene before him.
Such an ability is unprecedented, not only in his own magical history, but also in any officially recorded instance.
Perhaps only in that unverifiable era when time converters were invented and used on a large scale could such an adventure have taken place.
As Lockhart led everyone deeper into the passage to face the Muggle monster that had split open into countless organs and sprouted limbs, Dumbledore walked at the back, looking back in the direction they had come from.
There, a wrecked ghost ship could be vaguely seen.
On the ship, a figure bound by iron chains was staring intently at him.
Tom...
The figure vanished in a flash, and upon closer inspection, all that remained was the distorted and chaotic light in the river of time; it was no longer possible to discern whether Tom was still there.
Dumbledore looked down at the Gauntlet ring in his hand, which was set with a Resurrection Stone. He could feel the Resurrection Stone's jubilation throughout the long river of time that Lockhart had opened.
Tom...
His expression flickered, he gripped the ring tighter, and looked up in the direction of the professor and students.
Cheers erupted from there.
Upon closer inspection, they were astonished to find Professor Lockhart casting a spell on those self-replicating organ monsters.
Vibrant beams of magical light erupted from the tip of Lockhart's wand, striking the organ monsters. The immense force slammed them back against the cracked and pieced-together wall, where they exploded, transforming into dark and oppressive magical energy that seeped into the wall.
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, vaguely guessing what Lockhart was doing.
But this is just a guess.
He observed carefully, trying to learn Lockhart's method of casting spells, and quickened the process.
Yes, he naturally didn't understand the magic that the forest witch learned from the natural forest in a spiritual way, but he did know quite a bit about similar magic that brought life to life.
With his involvement, results were quickly achieved.
When all the organ monsters transformed into magical energy and merged into the wall, cracks began to spread across the wall, and then it completely collapsed.
Behind the wall was a staircase, like a cellar leading downwards.
The steps were very long, and everyone walked down them for who knows how long. Just when Lockhart began to wonder if they were in a maze, a different scene finally appeared before them.
A huge altar, and on the altar stood a black wizard.
"Destruction...devouring...slaughter...death..." he murmured, his voice filled with turmoil. "What's missing?"
It is vitality.
Dumbledore knew that Lockhart's answer was life.
Fortunately, Lockhart didn't go and tell this to the dark wizard in his usual showy manner; otherwise, some paradoxical forces that would have had terrible consequences would have emerged over time.
After all, this dark wizard was undoubtedly someone from countless years ago who had long since died in the real world.
Lockhart was clearly aware of this problem as well.
He is currently restraining the students from becoming agitated.
Especially Harry Potter.
The child, looking at the Muggles hanging from the pillars of the altar, was ready to rush up and save them at any moment.
Everyone was looking at the Muggles on the pillar.
The dark wizard was watching too.
"Damn it, what is it!" the dark wizard cried out in anguish. "My life is about to end, and I still can't find the answer."
He had no choice but to take a desperate gamble.
He filled in the missing part with "ominous" as he most likely guessed.
This seems to be a very unique magical theory, with five terrible dark magic forces coexisting and restraining each other.
The dark wizard began to try.
He waved his wand, chanting and shouting on the altar. Powerful magical energy surged, and the Muggles on the pillars rapidly shattered into individual organs, rearranging and recombinating them on the pillars.
"First, destroy its destruction, and enter immortality!"
The black wizard's wand tapped rapidly like a drumbeat, and a muffled and eerie heartbeat echoed around him—no, it should be said that countless heartbeats beat in unison.
Pa~!
Clap clap clap~!
One by one, the hearts on the pillars burst open.
Heart stripping—a common technique in the field of dark magic creature breeding, it can strip away the life rhythm of magical creatures and the subtle relationship between life and all things in the world.
The effect was remarkable; an extremely dark and powerful aura surged forth.
"Everyone, use the power of your guardian spirits!" Lockhart turned to the students and instructed them, "Those who are capable, find ways to protect others!"
In fact, his Pegasus Guardian could have done this by himself, but this was not just his adventure; everyone was involved.
They need to be given opportunities to grow.
"Destruction should bring even more terrifying killing power." The black wizard shouted, as if trying to encourage himself, after all, he was fighting desperately when he was at his wit's end.
"An ominous sign of destruction!"
Boom! Some of the strange things among the haphazardly pieced-together organs on the pillar exploded one after another.
It has a nose and mouth, as well as lungs and trachea, and even some blood vessels.
"An ominous sign is brewing, ready to devour!"
Then some strange organs exploded.
But at this point, it finally took effect. From the bloody mess of mouths and noses that had just exploded and were haphazardly pasted onto the pillars, a terrifying suction force was generated.
The power to devour the soul.
All the young wizards and professors felt the terrible pain of the Dementors sucking away souls and emotions. Several young wizards swayed and were clearly unable to hold on, so Lockhart quickly cast spells to help them.
The vortexes on these pillars didn't affect anyone else; the only one affected was the black wizard.
"No!"
The dark wizard dazed for a moment, then staggered and clung to a pillar for support. "No, my time is running out. Immortality... I need the power of immortality!"
In fact, it involves two steps.
The devouring created a deathly silence, and after the deathly silence, the power of destruction reappeared (actually, it should be the 'vitality' that Lockhart researched).
But the power of destruction has nothing to rely on.
Because organs like the heart and blood vessels had already exploded at the very beginning.
Then, an extremely dark, ominous, mysterious, oppressive, and pale power, like a spark quietly lurking in a haystack, suddenly burst forth and instantly engulfed everything in a sea of fire.
The power was so terrifying and vast that even Dumbledore's expression changed.
The professors' first reaction was to cast a Patronus Charm, but Lockhart's Patronus Charm stood out as particularly unique.
A pegasus emerged, spreading its wings, carrying everyone away from the rampant, raging energy.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
The dark wizard laughed wildly amidst the sea of energy, "I've succeeded! I've succeeded! With this power, no one in this world can stop me now!"
"He's laughing too soon." On Pegasus's head, Lockhart complained to the others, "It's clearly 'vitality,' I'm sure it can't be 'ominous.' He's got it wrong."
As it turned out, his guess was correct.
The surging magic quickly roared and transformed into hundreds or thousands of streams, rushing around like turbulent currents, chaotic and disordered, yet seemingly carrying some kind of pattern.
"No! Impossible!" the dark wizard roared, pointing angrily at the turbulent flow of magical energy. "Come back here! You should be obeying my commands!"
is it possible?
No, that's impossible.
This energy comes from the hundreds or thousands of Muggles, from their own will, from the magical bloodline of the dark wizards they reflect, and will eventually return to these Muggles.
But there's no going back.
Because of the lack of 'vitality,' the magical bloodline was suppressed and its expression was suppressed.
They kept flushing into their original bodies, and could do nothing but keep detonating their own organs.
Ultimately, these turbulent currents were drawn back to the black wizard's 'vital' figure and returned to the guidance of his spell.
Everything seemed to be going in a good direction, but the dark wizard was no longer smiling.
He realized with some despair that he seemed to have no control over so much magic power, which would eventually burst him apart!
Puff~~~
He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, which was black in color.
Before he could recover, a bloody hole suddenly exploded in his left waist, and a huge blood blister swelled up on the right temple of his head, as if it might burst open again at any moment.
He had to save himself.
He has a way to save himself!
He quickly cast a simple healing spell on himself, then struggled to rummage through a cloth bag slung over his waist, pulling out a strange scroll.
When unrolled, the scroll appears to be made of the bones and hides of some kind of animal, and inside is a picture with a tribal style, reminiscent of a child's doodle.
He was too weak to stand. He first staggered and knelt down, and finally collapsed onto the altar, folding up and slumping. He could only support himself with his hands, holding up the animal skin roll, and began to mutter strange incantations.
Lockhart looked at Old Deng with some curiosity.
Dumbledore shook his head. "I don't understand either. I don't understand everything."
Wizards have experienced a great deal of upheaval, from the barbarity of ancient wizards to the witch hunts of the Middle Ages, and the successive global wars of modern times. So much of it has been buried in the long river of history.
However, they soon found out what the scroll was for.
Because the dark wizard began chanting in ancient runes, "May some come here to share with me eternal life, to share in the oath of covenant..."
"Wishing magic?" Professor Kettleburn listened with a strange expression, unable to resist making a sarcastic remark, or rather, he didn't want the students around him to believe in such superstitious abilities.
"Children, the magic of prayer is the worst kind of magic. Sometimes we yearn for a savior to redeem us, but in the end, we find that we can only summon demons!"
Ok.
That's the logic.
but……
Hermione muttered back under her breath, "Professor Kettleburn, if he really can only summon demons, then those demons are actually us!"
"Huh?" Professor Kettleburn was taken aback.
Lockhart chuckled and laughed beside him, "While I also oppose this kind of superstition that the wizarding world has proven unbelievable with countless lives, I think he might have actually succeeded in his prayer, because we're here."
"Now, if we're willing to go over and share this power with him, we might just gain terrifyingly powerful strength!"
Professor Kettleburn rolled his eyes. "Do you take me for an idiot? Only a moron would accept a force that doesn't originate from their own will!"
As he spoke, he turned back to look at the students with extreme vigilance.
Sure enough, several young wizards looked very interested.
Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley... these two kids are the most obvious.
They naturally have reason to crave great power, but there's also the reason why their hearts aren't currently filled with the power of their guardian spells to protect them.
Fortunately, Professor Lockhart will not let them go astray.
Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall are here too.
Professor McGonagall looked at the children warily and warned, "I must remind you that what you see looks very real, but it is actually set in some ancient time. Traveling through time to change the past will only bring you unpredictable disasters."
"And you'll become a demon," Professor Kettleburn added, "wielding power that isn't yours. I don't know if you've ever heard of the Obscurials, but it's a kind of situation where you're consumed by magic, losing all your willpower. It's terrifying."
Dumbledore didn't say anything.
He simply stared thoughtfully at the terrifying turbulent magical energy before him, then turned back to look at the direction he had come from deep within the passage.
There is a ship there.
There is a Tom on the boat.
He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and gave up on the attempt.
"No, no!" The dark wizard's mournful cry came from afar as large holes burst open all over his body, making him look like a musical fountain.
He shouted frantically in Lockhart's direction, "I feel it! You've really appeared! Come quickly, come here! I want to share eternal life with you!"
Unfortunately, nobody paid him any attention.
He didn't know why, but despair quickly enveloped him completely.
These turbulent magical currents began to seep into the bursting parts of his body, drawn by the aura of his magical bloodline, instinctively trying to assimilate it. The powerful and chaotic force began to completely destroy the life force of his body.
Finally, those magical turbulence became real.
They began to take on form, like this black wizard, draped in tattered robes, their bodies withered and rotting.
They also have their own appearance; their mouths and noses are reduced to large holes, as if they could devour the soul of everything.
they……
"Dementors!" Professor Kettleburn exclaimed, drawing curious glances from the young wizards.
Is this how Dementors appear?
Everyone felt a sense of awe at witnessing history. A great villain who seemed as evil as Voldemort attempted to gain the power of immortality, cruelly torturing and killing Muggles, but was ultimately devoured by these powers.
They left behind only a group of such terrifying monsters in this world.
Everyone felt the same way.
Only Lockhart and Dumbledore had strange expressions.
"A Dementors are half? The other half is Azkaban?" Lockhart pointed to the Muggle corpses on the altar that had been magically torn to pieces and eventually blown up.
Dumbledore nodded slightly. "I'm afraid so. They are one, yet not one."
Somewhat like the Silent One and the Silent One.
Dumbledore gave Lockhart a long look and asked, "Life?"
Lockhart's lips curled slightly. "Yes, life, it's gone in the wrong direction."
understood.
Old Deng nodded with a strange expression.
Although there were people around them listening to them, probably only they knew what they were discussing.
That is—the way to destroy Azkaban prison and kill the Dementors.
The answer is: vitality!
(End of this chapter)