allendalepharm 025 Let's go, keep up!
025 Let's go, keep up!
On Saturday morning, Harry went out with the professors, much to Hermione's envious glance.
This morning, while having breakfast in the castle's Great Hall, Professor Lockhart asked Harry and Draco for their opinions. If Harry or Draco disagreed, he planned to replace them.
Hermione wished Draco were a coward so she could follow her idol.
Unfortunately, Draco seemed very proud and never considered the option of backing down.
And so it ended.
Professor Lockhart, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Harry, and Draco quickly arrived at the vineyard cottage near the Urquhart family castle via the fireplace.
Urkt Jr. is a tall, thin, middle-aged wizard who wears an Auror-style tactical trench coat and has the kind of politician's authority. He is said to be the liaison director of the "Auror Liaison Office of the Ministries of Magic" in the International Confederation of Wizards.
He saw Professor Snape pause for a moment, his smile froze, and he glanced furtively at his aunt, Professor McGonagall.
Lockhart knew without guessing what had happened given his reaction.
The great war led by Voldemort more than a decade ago was for the glory of pure-blood families. Even if an old pure-blood family like the Urquhart family did not openly take sides, how could they not provide support behind the scenes?
This has nothing to do with right or wrong, it's all about interests.
Even the mighty Dumbledore could not force the upper class to willingly accept their social fall and allow the family advantages painstakingly accumulated by generations to vanish into nothingness.
As Voldemort's most promising disciple, Professor Snape, the only Death Eater to receive Voldemort's magical instruction, inevitably had frequent contact with pure-blood families like Urquhart Jr.
Time flies, Voldemort has been defeated, and the Urquhart family naturally has no reason to support a loser. Therefore, there is no need to dwell on some things.
At least Professor McGonagall, a long-time member of the Order of the Phoenix, didn't take it to heart.
Everyone greeted each other politely. Little Urquhart clearly respected this "Aunt Minerva" very much. He was followed by two powerful wizards from the family, who led everyone to the castle.
As I stepped out of the vineyard, an ancient castle came into view in the distance. Even without getting close, a strange sense of unease began to grow and spread in my heart.
Dark, gloomy, and sad.
The biggest difference between the disasters brought by dark magic creatures and magical beasts is that they are so visible to the naked eye, and they always evoke very negative emotions.
This made everyone unconsciously slow down their pace.
Even on a bright summer morning, it still gives one the illusion of stepping into a dark, damp, and evil cave.
Lockhart carried a potted lush, vibrant sapling in one hand and held his wand in the other. He didn't slow down and quickly distanced himself from the others.
Fear stems from the unknown.
The castle's dark magic creature, the "Wicked Fairy," kills a house-elf, making it even more daunting.
But he understands.
I understand perfectly.
Upon arriving at the castle gate, he did not rush inside, but instead squatted in the corner to observe the gap between the castle walls and the earthen ground.
"Professor Lockhart, is there a problem?"
Young Urquhart exchanged a puzzled look with Professor McGonagall, but receiving no answer, he nervously stepped forward to ask.
"Look at the flowers in the corner."
The flowers are smaller than a little fingernail and look like the kind of common weeds.
Little Urquhart blinked, unsure of what it meant.
But then Professor Lockhart beckoned two young wizards to come forward and give them guidance. "In the ancient wizarding culture that worships nature, the reversal of life and death is often related to the earth. We often feel the sorrow of decay and the joy of life in the embrace of the earth."
"Therefore, when we come into contact with dark magic creatures in the realm of life and death, the first step is often to observe the state of the earth in the environment where the dark magic creature is located, which makes it easy to discern the state of the monster."
Lockhart's expression became somewhat strange when this was mentioned.
Because of the overly vigorous growth of these weeds, many cracks and gaps have quietly appeared in the stone crevices and steps of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but the diligent house-elves clean them up every day.
From this perspective, it's easy to deduce that the basilisk in the secret room may have already begun to move around in the castle's pipes.
Of course, most people don't understand this kind of knowledge.
In particular, after Voldemort cursed the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor, many accomplished masters in this field avoided teaching there, leaving Hogwarts somewhat lacking in knowledge about this area.
In the original book, whether it was Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, or the other professors, they were all completely incapable of dealing with the problems caused by the Basilisk. As a result, Dumbledore could only watch helplessly as the Ministry of Magic arrested Hagrid to take the blame, and then the board of trustees used this as an opportunity to directly dismiss Dumbledore from his position as headmaster.
So, you see.
In a school year teeming with half-baked dark magic creatures like basilisks, how fortunate Hogwarts was to have an expert like Lockhart who was skilled in dark magic creatures.
Ok.
Of course, not the Lockhart from the original work who, even if he understood, didn't know how to apply his knowledge and had absolutely no sense of responsibility.
"Look at this one too."
Lockhart reached into the crack in the wall and rummaged around for a while, pulling out a section of the root of the weed and handing it to Professor Snape, who was peeking out.
"These weeds..." Snape's words were cut short as his gaze suddenly sharpened. He took the root, crushed it, squeezed out the juice, rubbed it to feel its texture, and then smelled it. "They've already met the requirements for potion ingredients?"
Lockhart smiled and nodded. "In wizarding fairy tales, evil witches use the sap of a certain grass stem to make the queen beautiful, thereby controlling her to do evil for them. It is actually this kind of vibrant grass stem."
"The essence of dark magic creatures is a phenomenon. The phenomenon changes the environment, and the environment produces plants. This is actually an area that academic herbalism and potion-making have not yet seriously explored."
He dusted off his hands and stood up. "Luckily, based on the observation of these grass stems, we can see that the 'wrongfully killed fairy' in the castle is not in a state of anger. Perhaps we can try to communicate with it."
He picked up the sapling, waved his wand, and the mist surged. A faint, ethereal gray wolf phantom trotted out from the mist.
The gray wolf wagged its tail at him, then turned and ran back into the castle.
"Let's go, keep up!"
Lockhart called to everyone and led the way into the castle.