allendalepharm Chapter 113 Tom's Gift
Chapter 113 Tom's Gift
Chapter 113 Tom's Gift
"Sociality" is a fascinating topic because it allows us to clearly perceive our own position within a given situation.
For example, Lockhart's role as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry means that he is currently within Tom's bloodline magic. From a magical perspective, he is a member of Tom's "bloodline" in the "home" of Hogwarts.
This is interesting because Lockhart discovered that blood magic requires maintaining a very unique balance, and Tom's blood magic is out of balance.
What's even more interesting is that Lockhart is no longer one of the other professors, but the most crucial, cursed Black Defense professor. In other words, once he balances this bloodline magic, will he completely embed himself into it?
To become the one being protected?
Yes, Tom is amazing. He thoroughly explored the essence of incest magic and made full use of its curse properties.
For this reason, he abandoned all his own power of "love".
But ultimately, it is a blood-related magic, and it needs someone to be protected.
From being cursed to being protected, this is Lockhart's way of breaking the curse. At least for the next six months of his term, Voldemort will no longer be able to use the curse to kill himself.
Going even further, could he be immune to some kind of bloodline magic protection until Voldemort dies?
It was late at night.
After a busy day, Professor Lockhart returned to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, opened his fairy tale book, and began his lesson with eager anticipation, opening his diary once more.
"Because of the bonds brought by 'love,' we are more able to clearly perceive 'my' place in this world and society?"
Faced with Professor Lockhart's complete lack of reservation, Tom was clearly lost in thought.
"Yes!" Lockhart answered Tom's earlier question. "You're right, love is indeed a bond, but it's precisely because of these bonds that people have a strong social nature, and 'my' existence becomes real, full of the color of life."
He began to explain the concept of "wizard life" to Tom, arguing that magical creatures become more like natural creatures because they begin to have "sociality." "You have to go into it, gain sociality, and you become real, instead of a monster hiding in a dark corner."
He also cited the example of house-elves, emphasizing that these magical creatures began to have the possibility of reproduction because they entered the "wizard life" and even participated in events such as the goblin rebellion, thus entering a higher level of "fairytale wizard life".
Thanks to Ginny's praise of Professor Lockhart in front of her best friend Tom, and Lockhart's professional image as a master of magic when he later met Tom, Tom's impression of the professor was similar to that of Professor Slughorn, who taught him Horcrux magic.
Although they always maintained a certain level of contemplation about magic and a competitive spirit regarding knowledge, they never doubted the authority of these professors who were masters of magic.
Sixteen-year-old Tom was still somewhat naive.
They didn't understand Professor Lockhart's sinister nature.
He actually started trying!
"I need the power of the basilisk."
He said so.
He so desperately wanted to be resurrected that he was willing to expose the secret for it, and now that the opportunity was right in front of him, he could not afford to miss it.
Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts School, valued inheritance. In fact, people who establish schools to teach other wizards magic naturally have this kind of personality, and they would certainly make arrangements for the inheritance of their own bloodline descendants.
The basilisk is a protective force that he bestowed upon his descendants.
Tom Riddle is the "Successor of Slytherin" in this generation.
However, it needs to be clarified that Salazar Slytherin only distrusted Muggle-born wizards, not to the point of hatred; he hated Muggles.
Any narrative divorced from its historical context is simply irresponsible.
In that terrible era of witch hunts, the Order of Merlin, symbolizing the most powerful group of wizards, willingly became the lackeys of the Muggle king, only spouting rhetoric about limiting wizards from harming Muggles. The Wizarding Council, the predecessor of the Ministry of Magic, was far less powerful than it is now, merely a general academic organization.
It can almost be said that Slytherin and his three friends, together, founded Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, forming the first truly organized force of wizards in the Middle Ages to rival Muggles.
They even had firearms like Muggle cannons prepared in the castle.
In this life-or-death era, how could he not be wary of a wizard with a Muggle background, a mind full of Muggle ideas, and whose blood relatives are all Muggles, trying to infiltrate his resistance organization?
However, both Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are so tolerant that even Ravenclaw, known for their wisdom, believes that this is a force that wizards cannot ignore and need to unite with.
This led to the split among the four founders of the school.
This was a political rift, following Slytherin's angry departure from the magic school he had built by sacrificing his castle.
With concerns that Slytherin might go to extremes and harm these Muggle wizards, certain arguments naturally emerged.
In this context, let alone the basilisks that Slytherin kept, even if they kept unicorns or phoenixes,
That is also evil.
But in reality, things are far less complicated than conspiracy theorists imagine.
For Slytherin, the basilisk he kept was just like Lockhart's golden retriever or Newt's Niffler—a mere pet.
Or rather, its laboratory research findings on the cultivation of dark magic creatures.
Lockhart took his diary to the girls' restroom on the first floor of the school castle. With Tom's guidance, he used Parseltongue to open the entrance to the passage, followed the pipe to the door of the Chamber of Secrets, and then used a secret language to open the door, finally entering Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets.
Here, Tom seemed to be empowered by some kind of force; wisps of black smoke floated out of the diary, quickly gathering in front of him and eventually transforming into a young figure.
Its outline was blurry, as if separated from this world by a misty window, and it emitted a hazy light around it. It looked a bit like a ghost, but it was definitely not a ghost.
Because it lacked the deathly paleness of life, it was instead full of color.
With black hair and fair skin, he possessed a humble yet noble air, an air that gave off an indescribable sense of arrogance and self-satisfaction.
Lockhart had a strange feeling that he was calling the other person "Little Dumbledore".
Sixteen-year-old Tom was a favorite of most of the professors.
Arrogant yet humble, if he were to gain some of the gentle warmth that comes with age, he might truly become the second Dumbledore.
Pity.
Lockhart couldn't help but sigh, thinking that even if Voldemort couldn't become Dumbledore, he should at least be like Grindelwald, but he went astray and ended up becoming neither human nor monster, turning into a brain-dead monster.
"Professor Lockhart, my sincere greetings," Tom said with a smile, appreciating the mistake and shock in the professor's eyes.
Lockhart was more than just shocked; his pupils dilated in shock.
This greeting
He had seen it before!
His adventures with Dumbledore during the Gaga raids, where the Death Eater Alecto Caro was hanged by Voldemort in the tower, with the words "Dumbledore, greetings to you" written in her blood.
Very well, Tom successfully extinguished the slight thought that "this kid might still be salvageable" that had surfaced in his mind. As the saying goes, you can see a person's future from the age of three. Voldemort's eventual fate may sometimes really be due to his inherent nature.
"I never imagined you were a ghost," Lockhart exclaimed. "Such a unique soul."
No matter how well Tom pretends to be a good person, he can't compare to Lockhart. Tom might not be able to fake it well, at most the professor might not like him, but Lockhart would really be ruined and sent to Azkaban to retire.
"Professor, I need a magic wand," Tom requested.
It's perfectly reasonable that he needs magic to learn the Guardian Charm.
However, making such a request so abruptly inevitably raises concerns and worries that danger may arise.
So this was also a test, a test of whether the young professor in front of him was trustworthy and whether he genuinely wanted to teach him.
He's not appreciating people's kindness.
Lockhart handed him his wand almost without hesitation, rubbing his hands excitedly beside him. "I've always wanted to see a basilisk, that monster that's somewhere between a magical creature and a dark magic creature. Quick, quick, summon it out!"
He resembled an old scholar obsessed with academics.
This reminded Tom of his magical animal conservation professor, Professor Silvanus Kettleburn.
According to Ginny, this old professor is Lockhart's teaching assistant. They say birds of a feather flock together, and it seems that Professor Lockhart is undoubtedly one of those people.
He chuckled as he toyed with his wand, hissing and gesturing in Parseltongue at the Slytherin statue on the distant wall.
Soon, the statue opened its mouth, and the basilisk crawled out with its eyes closed, slithering all the way to its front.
Wow!
Lockhart reached out and touched the basilisk's cool scales, exclaiming excitedly, "Incredible! Is it really something Mr. Slytherin bred? It's survived such a long history!"
"Yes." Tom Riddle looked at Lockhart's unguarded demeanor, his complete lack of concern that he would use the basilisk to kill him, and couldn't help but smile amusedly, toying with his wand. "This is a basilisk that my ancestor raised himself!"
As he spoke, a thought struck him, and he looked Professor Lockhart, who appeared somewhat young, up and down. "You told me before that you've been dedicated to researching dark magic creatures?"
Lockhart stared intently at the basilisk, nodded, and casually replied, "Yes, specifically, I mean the direction of cultivating dark magic creatures."
That's really great!
Tom smiled broadly and hissed at the Slytherin statue again, causing the statue to move once more.
The statue's hands, holding the wizard's robe, opened to the left and right, revealing a huge hole in the statue's chest, near its heart, from which a stone staircase extended.
Looking up, one sees a dazzling array of experimental equipment, as well as a whole shelf of research notes and magic books.
"What is this?" Lockhart blinked, quite certain that this place wasn't in the original story where Harry and his friends killed the Basilisk.
"The Slytherin laboratory for researching magic and breeding dark magic creatures contains detailed records of the breeding of basilisks."
I think you'll like this gift.
Tom seemed quite generous, selling his son to his father without a second thought.
But he wouldn't lose out at all. If Professor Lockhart really bred other basilisks, or even a whole bunch of them, it would undoubtedly strengthen his power.
After all, the basilisk only obeys the orders of the snake-man.
Now that the resurrection has brought hope, it's natural to start planning for the future. Tom has to think that his biggest enemy in the future might not be Dumbledore, but Voldemort, who is plotting another famous resurrection!
The Basilisk might not be able to deal with Voldemort, but it would be more than enough to deal with Voldemort's Death Eaters.
"Gifts? All for me?" Lockhart asked, his face full of surprise.
Tom nodded with a smile and gestured, "Yes, esteemed professor, please proceed."
"Then I really won't be polite!" Lockhart was so excited that he no longer cared about Tom and quickly walked up the stone steps.
Tom gazed intently at the professor's retreating figure, a slight smile playing on his lips, quite pleased with the potential benefits the professor might bring in the future.
So—
Let's begin the resurrection!