The slacker professor at Hogwarts

Chapter 125 The Curse of the Norwegian Spinosaurus

Chapter 125 The Curse of the Norwegian Spinosaurus

The most eye-catching thing in the Crabbe family's coffin chamber is that scepter.

Just as the modern art of stone meditation bowls evolved from skulls to crystal skulls, wizards didn't start out using wands that looked like oversized chopsticks.

From the earliest use of magical materials to assist in spellcasting, which gave rise to the long historical debate over whether the "Animal School" and the "Plant School" were the correct path to spellcasting, to the later rise of the alchemist school which greatly expanded the depth and breadth of spellcasting mediums, the evolution of the wand has also undergone a long process of exploration.

The scepter is the most iconic research achievement of the alchemist era.

"It contains the soul of a Norwegian spinal dinosaur."

Crabbe gestured for Lockhart to look at a wizard's robe propped up on a weapon rack behind the scepter. "This wizard's robe is made from its dragon skin and the nerves of giants, and it has powerful magic resistance."

Lockhart approached with curiosity and found a sign standing under his wizard's robes that read: "Beware! Thirteen Crabbes have already died from the curse of this fire dragon!"

"When I was little, the adults wouldn't let me touch this wizard's robe and scepter. A witch who came to our house said that Crabbe benefited from fire and was also destroyed by fire; they were a family cursed by fire."

Yes.

Lockhart sensed it.

An extremely restless anger gathered on the wizard's robes and scepter, like the oppressive and suffocating atmosphere of a volcano about to erupt.

He seemed to vaguely sense the scorching heat and the pungent smell of sulfur, and he began to feel restless.

But Crabbe seemed to enjoy the effects of the magical artifact. His silly face became more lively, as if his soul had returned to its place. He was less "dull" than before.

Strangely enough, Lockhart found that Crabbe was able to express his views more clearly and was starting to become more organized.

It's like a fish that has finally come to the sea and can breathe freely again—that unique feeling of exhilaration and relaxation.

Even so, Crabbe still looked very afraid of the wizard's robe and scepter in front of him, and gestured for Lockhart to look at the portrait on the wall behind the wizard's robe.

The kind that moves.

In the painting, a middle-aged wizard wearing this wizard's robe is holding a scepter and casting a spell. Around him are terrifyingly hot flames, and from within the flames, flame-like dragons resembling Norwegian Ridgebacks fly out.

"This is how our ancestors released the Fiery Curse."

Fiendfyre, one of the most powerful forms of dark magic, is most terrifying because the flames it releases possess a powerful curse that can damage the soul, even burning away souls protected by Horcruxes.

This magic has an interesting characteristic: its unique growth potential. When it is first released, it is only a small patch of fire or even a single flame, but it will grow rapidly and eventually become a raging inferno capable of burning down a city.

Moreover, it also possesses the ability of polymorphism, mimicking various forms of fire monsters within the sea of ​​fire. It's important to understand that the spell Gellert Grindelwald cast in Paris was not Fiendfyre, but rather a 'fire shield' that was essentially for defense. Clearly, this top wizard had already thoroughly grasped the principles of Fiendfyre and knew how to make other spells achieve the same characteristics.

Lockhart stared in amazement at the scene of the spellcasting in the portrait. The Fiend Curse controlled by Crabbe in the portrait only produced fire monsters in the form of Norwegian Ridgeback Dragons. This was definitely a demonstration of extremely high level of control.

"This ancestor was the first person to be consumed by flames; he was burned to death by countless Norwegian Ridgebacks that he created himself."

Crabbe's introduction has a unique absurdity: "Starting with this ancestor, the Crabbes began to realize that they were suffering the curse of the Norwegian Ridgeback."

so.

This painting is not intended to showcase Crabbe's power, but rather to serve as a warning to future generations.

Lockhart's expression immediately turned strange.

“My mother used to laugh at me about this when I was little. She said she wasn’t surprised at all,” Crabbe said, turning his gaze away from the portrait. “She said she had heard when she was little that wizards’ abilities were obtained through a deal with the devil, and that the wizard’s soul would eventually be taken by the devil. Crabbe’s soul was taken by a dragon.”

emmm....

A standard wizard fairy tale.

Lockhart was at a loss for words.

"You can take this wizard's robe and scepter." Crabbe brought up the contents of the deal again, his face still flushed. Lockhart smiled but didn't reply, simply following him as they continued to wander around the not-so-small room.

Crab couldn't explain most of the family collections here, mainly because he was just a second-grade student. Even though his family had a tradition of education passed down through generations, his parents died too suddenly to give any explanations.

These things are mainly divided into three parts.

One was magical materials and books, but there weren't many; there were only two shelves.

One shelf was entirely dedicated to Fiendfyre, while the other was haphazardly crammed with various scrolls, parchments, books, copperplate engravings, and even a stone tablet with a missing corner.

Secondly, there were some precious magical materials that were carefully protected by magic, and most of them were related to fire. Lockhart even saw a large glass jar filled with a substance that looked like wood ash, with a label that said it was the ash left behind when a phoenix was resurrected, which could be used to prepare resurrection rituals.

Finally, there are some magical creations, a dazzling array of all kinds.

One of the sculptures depicted a Niffler holding a stone slab. After confirming that no protective magic was applied to it, Lockhart tried to touch it, and platinum-gold lines began to appear on the slab.

Oh, it's a magical effect similar to the one on the coffin lid.

These lines quickly outlined the name "Gidero Lockhart" on the stone slab, extending upwards to two more names before continuing upwards until the slab was soon filled with numerous names.

"This is the Book of Bloodlines. My mother showed it to me specifically, telling me that if I have children in the future, I must let them touch this stone slab and see it," Crabbe explained, looking up at something in the corner, though he was also confused. "I don't know why I should do this either."

Lockhart chuckled, clearly knowing what was going on, but this was not something to be discussed with children.

He quickly stopped laughing.

His gaze sharpened, fixed intently on the Chinese characters that had suddenly appeared in the corner of the stone slab.

Yes, in Chinese.

One Loh.

The two characters "罗哈" (Luo Ha) quickly extended into two platinum-gold lines, outlining two Chinese names rapidly.

His hand trembled for a moment, and finally he closed his eyes with a sense of loss, releasing his grip on the stone slab, causing the writing to disappear again.

oh~~

In his past life, he was an orphan who had a deep-seated obsession with finding out who his parents were.

He never expected that he would find the answer to something he had never had the chance to know in his previous life.

But he no longer wanted to know the answer.

Lockhart opened his eyes again, his gaze lingering on the stone slab that had returned to its ordinary stone form. He remained silent for a while, then finally stopped paying attention to it and said with a smile, "Then you'd better live well, get married and have children, and continue the Crabbe family line."

Crabbe was only a second-grader and didn't think that far ahead. He came up to me with a silver locket in hand, looking completely bewildered as he listened to what I was saying.

"I don't even know if I'll live that long." Under the influence of the wizard's robe and the magic of the scepter, his mind had become much sharper, allowing him to say such a thing.

The two quickly emerged from the coffin-covered chamber. After closing the door, the coffin lid transformed back into an ordinary wooden plank, without a trace of magic.

If one did not know the secret of using the unlocking spell to open this door, the average person would probably never find the Crabbe family's true treasure.

Once outside, Crabbe took another look at the bank goblins guarding the vault. Clearly, these ancient pure-blood families taught their next generation to be wary of these greedy creatures.

He opened the pendant box, inside which was a strange leather with a plastic-like texture, neatly folded.

As it was quickly flipped out, it completely transformed into a piece of cloth measuring two meters by three meters.

Lockhart helped him spread the cloth on the ground, placed the coffin lid on the cloth, and then folded the cloth again, little by little, folding the cloth covering the coffin lid back into the small silver pendant box.

It wasn't a traceless stretching spell; it didn't contain any wizarding magic power, not a single trace of magic. It was particularly magical.

Crabbe solemnly handed the locket to Lockhart, opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately whispered, "Don't let Draco know."

Lockhart nodded seriously. "Of course!"

Regardless of whether he was facing a child or not, the other party had entrusted him with the most precious thing in the family, so he could not betray their trust; he had that sense of responsibility.

"This is just safekeeping, son." He didn't want to make the atmosphere too heavy, as if Crabbe was going to become extinct tomorrow. He looked at Crabbe seriously and said, "You also need to grow up quickly. Your mom and dad are watching you."

Crabbe scratched his head sheepishly, looking troubled. "But I've always been stupid."

Lockhart dismissed the question, "Does a wizard's power really have anything to do with being stupid or smart?"

Yes, there is some connection.

In modern wizarding society, powerful wizards are all very intelligent. Not to mention Dumbledore, the outstanding students like Percy, Cedric, the Weasley twins, Hermione, and so on are all very clever.

But ancient wizards were not like that; the male and female wizards recorded in history were all somewhat mentally unstable and neurotic.

Well, although it's not a very nice way to describe it, Newt Scamander and Sybil Trelawney are typical examples of this.

"Can I really do it?" Crabbe was always so insecure.

Lockhart rubbed his head. "Yes, I'm absolutely sure!"