The slacker professor at Hogwarts

032 Final Teaching Assessment

"The simplest way to distinguish between magical creatures and magical animals is to see if only people with magic can actually observe them."

Lockhart tried his best not to explain those profound theories, but only taught the young wizards the words that were easiest for them to understand: "Muggles can't see ghosts, Dementors, or ghouls, but they can see centaurs, stag birds, and kelpie."

"Look, this is the simplest and most useful way to distinguish them."

He clapped his hands, "It's crystal clear."

"In the future, you will receive more instruction in Black Magic Creature Defense and Magical Creature Protection, learning how to deal with each of these two approaches. When facing these non-human creatures in the future, you will be able to distinguish them using this method and know which approach to take."

"Secondly, magical properties."

"The magic of magical creatures is very similar to that of wizards, or we can boldly speculate that ancient wizards learned many spellcasting techniques from magical creatures."

"For example, the 'Cat-Leopard' is born with the magical ability of 'Soul-Stealing'. For example, the Ball-Escape Bird is born with the magical ability of 'Apparition'."

"And magical creatures, strictly speaking, are not spellcasting abilities recognized by wizards. They are magic in themselves, and you will find that the magical abilities they exhibit fall within the scope of 'rules'."

Lockhart brought this up with a puzzled expression, "Take house-elves for example. You'll find that their ability to teleport is similar to Apparition, and they are unrestrained and ignore wizards' magic, unless we consciously create 'rules' that prevent this kind of 'rule' from happening."

The young wizards all gasped in surprise.

They clearly hadn't expected house-elves to be so powerful.

Lockhart tapped the blackboard. "Third, biological."

"Fantastic Beasts strictly follow the habits of animals in nature, including birth, aging, illness, death, reproduction, and so on. That's why we find that they are divided into males and females and exist in groups."

"Magical creatures don't have this characteristic. They don't have gender in the strict sense, they don't have populations, they don't reproduce, and they don't have life cycles."

Lockhart tapped on the topic of Dementors on Draco's desk. "For example, you would never hear about Dementors falling in love and having babies."

"Oh~~" Draco frowned, pulling away from the topic a little. "Yes, that's strange!"

Lockhart smiled slightly, waiting for them to absorb the three points.

There's nothing difficult about it, and it's easy to understand.

After a short pause, he continued, "Wizards have always been arrogant; we never differentiate between these creatures based on their inherent strength."

Lockhart quickly wrote a line on the blackboard, tapped it, and read it aloud, "We'll distinguish them by their 'level of danger to wizards'!"

"There are five levels of danger rating for magical creatures. You will learn about the specific classifications when you take the Magical Creatures Conservation course next year."

"But please note one thing!"

"When we find a specific method or invent a spell to deal with a magical creature, its danger level will decrease, regardless of its own strength."

"The same goes for magical creatures."

Lockhart put down the blackboard and looked at them seriously. "Since they are magic, then for wizards, there is a distinction between normal magic and black magic. Magic that brings negative emotional effects to wizards is black magic, and that includes black magic creatures."

"With this distinction, I think you should be able to easily identify exactly where the 'dark magic creatures' are positioned."

Hermione's little face scrunched up. "Is everything judged by wizarding standards?"

Lohatt nodded. "Yes, that's why we'll call it the Wizarding Society, not the Magic Society. We'll say the International Wizarding Federation, not the International Magic Federation."

"This is wrong!" Hermione exclaimed, unable to accept this approach.

"But that's reality." Lockhart looked at her with a smile. "When you're powerless to change the world, the reality you see is the reality you have to accept."

"Alright, let's move on to discussing this in more detail."

He didn't want the conversation to stay on these most basic concepts.

"You must have just noticed something: house-elves are magical creatures, but they also possess the biological characteristics of magical animals. They really have the ability to be born, grow old, get sick, die, and reproduce."

Draco Pansy and the other students who had house-elves at home immediately realized what was going on and nodded quickly.

"There aren't any monographs on this yet, and it seems there's no academic research in this area." Lockhart picked up the wooden board again and gestured for them to look at the three key distinctions. "But there's definitely a middle ground between magical creatures and magical beings."

"The following definition is just my guess. You can write it down and verify it in the future."

Lockhart wrote the last phrase in the corner—"Wizard life".

House-elves were originally called "house elves," and they were attached to the wizard's house, earning food through labor.

"This led to their extensive involvement in wizarding life, initiating the transition from magical creatures to magical beasts, and beginning to exist in between."

"If you've ever been to the Ministry of Magic, you'll see the 'Fountain of the Wizarding Brothers' and know that centaurs, goblins, house-elves, and even house-elves were highly involved in human history. This is a further step into the 'wizard fairy tale life'."

"Similarly, we also find that the dark magic creatures involved in wizarding life are slowly changing to some extent. For example, the Dementors in Azkaban prison have developed a certain degree of communication ability."

"Regarding exploration in this area..."

Lockhart picked up the notebook from in front of Harry and gestured for everyone to look at his choice. "The Basilisk is an excellent example."

"It is the result of a wizard's research on artificially guiding magical creatures to transform into dark magical beings."

As he spoke, he placed the notebook back on the table with some disdain, "But this is a failed attempt."

"According to the information that can be found in the past, its cultivation method is 'a magic egg laid by a seven-year-old rooster when Sirius is in the sky, and then hatched by a toad.' In the field of dark magic creatures, this classification is 'a creature that defies common sense.'"

Lockhart waved, and a golden light leaped down from the treetops in the distance, quickly landing on his shoulder.

The little golden retriever blinked its shimmering golden eyes as it looked at all the little wizards.

The magical environment of fear and despair was released, and every little wizard instantly became stiff, as if they were frightened by something indescribable and remained motionless.

This effect quickly disappeared again, and the little golden retriever took a cookie from Lockhart and slipped away into the depths of the dense foliage once more.

The young wizards all gasped in unison; even Hermione, who wasn't experiencing this for the first time, still found it hard to accept such a terrifying sensation.

"This is the magical characteristic of a 'defying common sense' type!"

Lockhart's voice spoke in their ears, "Their existence exceeds the common sense of wizards, and thus can instantly shatter a wizard's understanding of the world, making it difficult for the wizard to make any response."

"The basilisk is a monster bred in a way that defies common sense."

"But its researchers were too greedy, wanting both the immortality of 'dark magic creatures' and the reproduction of 'magical beasts.' Ultimately, this resulted in it falling into a gray area, failing to inherit the advantages of either and instead incorporating their disadvantages."

"An existence that defies common sense would cause the collapse of a person's inner world even if they just looked at it directly, but it doesn't."

"A wizard won't freeze in fear at the sight of its enormous serpentine body, nor will he be scared to death just by looking at its form. Rather, it requires eye contact, a kind of distorting sensation that invades the windows of the soul, to cause death."

Lockhart smiled slightly and looked at them seriously. "So, here's the question."

"Now that we know the characteristics of this half-baked dark magic creature, the 'basilisk,' how should we defend against it?"

Hermione raised her hand. "Don't look into its eyes!"

"Very good." Lohart nodded, then looked at the others. "Any other answers?"

Everyone pondered deeply. Neville, standing in the corner, opened his mouth, but then hesitated to speak, perhaps out of shyness.

"Navie, you tell us."

Neville's face flushed red. Seeing everyone looking over, he said in a low voice, "To prevent... to prevent the collapse of my inner world?"

"Yes!" Lockhart laughed heartily, "The best answer!"

Neville's eyes lit up immediately. He hadn't expected that his answer would be the best. Seeing the looks his friends were giving him, he blushed again.

Fortunately, the professor continued speaking, which attracted everyone's attention and prevented him from feeling even more embarrassed.

"A worldview with a clear sense of right and wrong, a positive attitude towards life, and the powerful courage to face the terrible."

Lockhart explained earnestly, "This is the answer. If you truly possess such a powerful mind, you could stare at the basilisk for eternity, and its gaze would not harm you in the slightest!"

"Of course, this is also the best way for us to resist the effects of dark magic on ourselves."

"I know it's difficult."

He shrugged. "This not only requires us to cultivate our inner selves in our daily lives, but also to be in the best possible mental state. No one's mental state is static. Sometimes when we encounter bad things, we're at our lowest point and then we can't face them."

"So we can also use some magical items or potions to help us."

Lockhart raised an eyebrow. "Take the legendary sword of Gryffindor, for example. It can grant people unparalleled courage, but it is said that only those who possess equally great courage can win its favor."

"This sword seems somewhat useless. It grants the braver a stronger and more resolute courage to face all injustices, which is not very useful in many situations, but it is very suitable for dealing with basilisks."

As for why Gryffindor's sword is exclusively for the Slytherin basilisk, well, some topics are obviously not suitable to discuss too much with young wizards.

Lockhart looked at the eight young wizards in front of him with a smile.

I sincerely hope they will take my words to heart.

He didn't know whether Dumbledore would choose to train Harry Potter, the "hero of fairy tale epics," to face the Basilisk alone, or whether he would not make such a demanding requirement.

But if not, perhaps the best solution would be for him to have his group of young wizards face the basilisk together.

As a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, there's no better test of teaching results than having a group of outstanding students team up to hunt a half-finished Dark Magic creature.

To be honest, Lockhart really didn't take the basilisk seriously.

This reflects confidence in one's professional field.

The only challenge he felt was the Dark Lord's curse on his position, a curse that even Dumbledore and all the influential figures he could possibly contact couldn't break, and that was the real threat.