allendalepharm Chapter 126 Soul Campfire and Warm Healing
Chapter 126 Soul Campfire and Warm Healing
Chapter 126 Soul Campfire and Warm Healing
On the way back, Lockhart asked Crabbe about his current mastery of magic.
Even though he actually practices elite education and recruits the few young wizards he likes to his "Duel Club" for individual instruction, it has only been a few months, and he has not had time to delve deeper into the characteristics of each young wizard and explore their abilities.
He originally valued Draco and Harry more, and occasionally pinned his hopes on the more ambitious Hermione, but the timing was so perfect that Crabbe was the first to come to him.
Perhaps this is fate.
Lockhart believed in fate, a concept of interpersonal relationships that is almost impossible to translate accurately in Europe and requires lengthy explanations.
The young wizard lost all his family members in second grade, who entrusted him with the family's most precious treasures. Such trust...
This immediately created a closer relationship than with other students.
Teaching is teaching, and Lockhart did not discriminate against any student in the Duel Club. He believed that every student who entered the club had great potential.
Let's start with Crabbe.
He didn't mind Crabbe's portrayal in the original work. The original work was no longer the original work. If Crabbe was still the same Crabbe because of his involvement, then he could only blame himself, the professor in charge of teaching, for not teaching well.
Sometimes his mindset in this regard is similar to Dumbledore's; even with Death Eater leader Snape and memory thief Lockhart, he is still willing to give them a chance.
Crabbe's academic performance was not good.
Or to put it another way, it was terrible.
Not to mention potions, a magical discipline that requires both extremely high rationality and extremely high sensitivity, he didn't even have a good grasp of the most basic spells lessons for wizards.
But this doesn't mean he was entirely useless. Crabbe possessed some talent in the family legacy planning techniques that old Crabbe had taught him.
On the contrary, they mastered it quite well.
It seems that the Crabbe family has some awareness of their own situation and has been thinking about their way out.
Cleaned up, restored to its original state, landed with a thud, quickly grows larger, quickly shrinks, and shatters into pieces—all spells that test one's control abilities.
Moreover, it's not a spell to control others, but a spell to control objects.
"Oh," Crabbe thought for a long time, somewhat dazedly, "I've also mastered the 'Extinguishing Charm' that Professor Snape taught me in the Duel Club recently."
That's an interesting idea.
Lockhart stroked his chin, observing Crabbe with interest. "Anything else? Did your father mention anything about what you'd need to master in the future?"
Crabbe shook his head, and after a while, his eyes suddenly lit up. "Apparition! I heard it from my mother. She said that the Crabbe family has long sponsored the Department of Magical Transportation's 'Apparition Testing Centre'. Our family has a special facility there, and every Crabbe needs to go there for a lot of practice."
"My mother mentioned that after I graduate from magic school, I will work at the Apparition Testing Centre and receive at least three years of training in this area."
Apparition?
Can training in Apparition improve one's control over magic?
Lockhart seemed thoughtful. "When did this arrangement begin?"
Crabbe shook his head, confused about the matter, and answered vaguely, "I don't know. My father couldn't explain it to my mother either, but I heard that it has been supporting it for at least several hundred years."
Hundreds of years? The British Ministry of Magic is less than three hundred years old, my friend.
Seeing Lockhart's keen interest, he quickly said somewhat obsequiously, "I can have Tutu take you to the Ministry of Magic's Apparition Testing Centre for training. She knows how to get into the Crabbe family's territory."
"TuTu?"
"Ah? Oh, she's my house-elf. She's been helping me with the inheritance of the family fortune lately."
The matter of the Apparition testing center was mentioned.
That's really great.
Lockhart couldn't help but look at Crabbe with a sigh; the kid had already amassed so many gold coins that he felt a little embarrassed.
However, he did have some ideas regarding Crabbe's problem.
"It's clear that your Crabbe family has been working to improve your control over magic in order to better wield the powerful Fiendfire spell."
"That's a great idea. It's better to be an expert in one thing than to know everything."
"Maybe I can talk to your house-elf... Tutu, right? I can have a good talk with her and see if this is actually working, or if we're just helplessly struggling with the curse."
He wasn't in a hurry to define the matter, but simply continued, "Find solutions for the characteristics, Crabbe,"
I taught you that, didn't I?
Crabbe nodded.
"He has a unique affinity for fire magic, which is caused by the curse of the Norwegian Spine Dragon, leading to an uncontrolled backlash against fire," Lockhart recounted the current characteristics of the Crabbe bloodline, searching for a solution. "If you ask me, you might try to stay away from magic that requires extremely high control and choose magic that won't have too much of an impact even if it goes out of control, or even magic that is more beneficial to you the greater its power."
As he spoke, he turned to the car's center console and said, "Ma'am, how about you find me a quiet forest?"
The Didi car quickly turned in the clouds and flew in another direction.
Soon, they arrived at a primeval forest whose exact location was unknown. After getting out of the car, Lockhart found an open space, piled up a few dry branches he had picked up to make a small woodpile, and cast a spell on it.
"Soul Fire!"
This is one of the most commonly used spells by forest witches in the Amazon rainforest.
Flames surged up, and within the orange-red flames, a faint blue flame overlapped, sometimes separating and sometimes merging as the flames flickered.
"This magic can bring peace to the soul, soothe physical pain, and provide excellent sleep. It is the best magic for wizards to fall asleep at night while walking in the primeval forest."
As he spoke, Lockhart held his wand to his lips, and the tip of the wand quickly transformed into a thick bird beak, which emitted a clear bird call in response to his murmur.
Before long, a fox was attracted by the birdsong and came closer with a limp. It glanced at Lockhart and Crabbe warily, but was soon drawn to the two-colored flames of the campfire. It squinted and lay down lazily on a rock next to the fire, resting its chin on its crossed front legs, and quickly fell asleep.
"Look, even wounded wild animals won't attack humans under the influence of the campfire, because the flames soothe the turbulent emotions in their souls, bringing them peace and allowing them to enjoy its healing power."
"Of course, our minds are much more complex, and we are not easily influenced by a campfire like this; it can only affect us after we fall asleep—."
Lockhart hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly heard a snoring sound. He turned around with a strange expression and was shocked to see Crabbe, that big oaf, already asleep standing up, nodding occasionally.
Kid, you'll easily get killed if you keep going like this.
However, on the other hand, aren't the mentally flawed descendants of pure-blood families more susceptible to the influence of this natural magical power?
Is it a beneficial boost or a detrimental targeted attack?
The forest witch knew far too much of this kind of magic that brought peace and tranquility. During the day, she had "Afternoon Sleep," at night, "Night-Shining Insects," and on cloudy days, "Pleasant Breeze," among other spells that brought similar effects.
Lockhart sometimes even suspected that the frequent occurrence of brain damage among the descendants of these pure-blood families might not be primarily due to inbreeding, but rather that the damage from the corruption of dark magic had accumulated over generations, similar to a bloodline curse, causing their soul defects to become increasingly severe.
It even began to resemble a magical creature.
This is quite an interesting conjecture. Some magical creatures evolve into magical beasts because of the wizarding life, while some wizards also gradually transform into magical creatures with average intelligence but great power.
Lockhart couldn't wait here for Crabbe to finish sleeping before continuing; he had to rush back to school to oversee the afternoon's adventure activities.
He gently waved his wand and pointed it at Crabbe. A chilling gust of wind swept past, and Crabbe jolted awake.
"I—I fell asleep?" Crabbe looked very ashamed, his face flushed red as if he was about to explode.
"Don't mind it, it's magical power." Lockhart didn't seem to care, and gestured for him to gather some dry firewood to build a fire, then began to teach him how to use the magic.
It's not difficult.
Or rather, it's not difficult for Crabbe.
He succeeded immediately, and the blazing flames were even taller than Lockhart's bonfire by more than a section.
Besides Lockhart's active control over the size of the campfire, instinctively creating a fire that would make humans feel more comfortable and at a more suitable size, there is also Crabbe's innate affinity for fire magic.
"What do you sense from this pile of flames?" Lockhart asked.
Crabbe didn't reply, he just stared blankly at the campfire, and soon tears streamed down his face as he murmured, "Dad—Mom."
After a long while, he turned to look at Lockhart. Even with tears on his face, he looked more lively. "Professor, I suddenly don't feel so sad anymore."
Lockhart raised an eyebrow. "Tell me more."
Crabbe didn't know how to express himself, he just turned around and stared at the campfire, "Can I feel my parents' company in the firelight, you little match girl?"
Lockhart was amazed, realizing that he might really have found the right path. Crabbles were suited to this kind of magic, rather than something as powerful as Fiendfyre.
If you don't have the ability to control it, don't try to. Why not make better use of the advantages of this magical runaway and make your magic even more powerful?
His expression shifted, and he beckoned Crabbe to try the second spell. "Watch closely. This spell might be a little difficult for you because its core principle is to use fire to release the life force of the earth. It's a spell where the wizard communicates with the natural earth and receives help through fire."
He gently touched the fire, "Warmth and healing!"
The two-colored flames before him burst forth with another color, indescribable in its exact form, yet radiating a hazy, holy white light. Surrounded by this light, Lockhart felt as if the fatigue from his journey had been completely replenished.
Energizing is merely a side effect of this magic; its most important function is healing—it is a healing spell.
This magic is indeed quite difficult.
There are requirements for the technique of casting spells. The wizard's movements of waving the wand need to be more in line with the natural rhythm. Crabbe is really clumsy in this regard, and Lockhart needs to correct his movements little by little to achieve the most basic level of spell casting success.
At the same time, it also requires a certain state of mind from the wizard. The wizard needs to be filled with closeness and gratitude to the natural flames. It is a very unique state of mind. Some people can achieve it easily, while others find it very difficult.
But unexpectedly, Crabbe gave Lockhart a pleasant surprise in this regard.
"Warm and healing!"
Crabbe, somewhat bewildered, cast a spell on the fire in front of him. In an instant, a milky white light quickly filled their vision and spread rapidly in all directions.
This unique magical firelight covered a radius of several hundred meters, seemingly dyeing this corner white.
The fox, which had been resting and sleeping on the rock, was startled awake by the noise and ran off warily into the distance.
But after running a short distance, she was surprised to find that her fractures and bite wounds had completely healed, and she couldn't help but turn back and babble gratefully.
"Ha ha ha ha?
Lockhart's triumphant and hearty laughter echoed through the forest. "Yes, yes, that's it!"
"Crawb, keep going in this direction. Forget about that awful dark magic, the Fiendfyre spell. You'll find that restoring the glory of the Crabb family is incredibly easy for you!"
Crabbe didn't speak, but simply savored the warmth and comfort of the firelight massaging his soul.
A feeling of profound relaxation, both mentally and physically, filled his mind.
It was so beautiful, so comfortable, so wonderful.
He wanted to sleep again.