Hermione started to get excited: "That's right! There are some books I've been wanting to go to

borrow! For example, the Book of Spells, the Powerful Potion, and a book that is said to have recorded a 17th-century classic…”

Seeing that she had a tendency to turn into a captive again, Lockhart hurriedly put down the book in his hand, made a silent gesture, and pointed at their librarian, Mrs. Pins.

Only then did Hermione realize that her voice just now was too loud, and it had already caused dissatisfaction from the people around her.

She stuck out her tongue in embarrassment and lowered her voice.

"I don't know if I can sit here. If you have any questions, feel free to ask." She pointed to the seat next to Lockhart expectantly.

Lockhart nodded, indicating yes.

Hermione sat down happily, then pulled out her homework, ready to finish it right here.

To avoid trouble, Lockhart decided to put the ugly word up front.

He also lowered his voice and leaned close to Hermione's ear: "Agreed in advance, if it is the homework of Transfiguration, please forgive me for being helpless, Transfiguration is my worst subject. After returning to Hogwarts, I Don't even dare to speak to Professor McGonagall, or she will criticize me."

Seeing him suddenly so close to her, Hermione's face was already flushed red.

"Really? But I remember..." Hermione muttered under her breath, but couldn't say it.

She remembered that in Lockhart's autobiography "Traveling with Vampires", Lockhart cast a very complex human transformation spell on a real vampire, and since then let the vampire "eat only carrots"

You know, the anti-magic ability of vampires is far better than that of mortals. If Lockhart can successfully apply transformation at that time, his level of transformation will obviously not be low.

But looking at the way Lockhart said "I'm not good at shapeshifting", he didn't seem to be joking...

Relying on her outstanding logical reasoning ability and the above inference basis, Hermione deduced such a set of things in her own brain:

Known: Professor Lockhart has a high level of Transfiguration, and he is the worst at Transfiguration;

Reasoning: That is to say, the level of Professor Lockhart's spells, defense against the dark arts, potions, and herbs is higher than that of Transfiguration;

Conclusion: Professor Lockhart is a genius! And very humble!

By the way, under the aura of "Lockhart", the option "is it possible he's lying" didn't even appear in Hermione's thinking circuit at all

Of course, Lockhart did not expect that he had already said so, and the man next to him could still

So many things have been made up in my brain. If he knew, he would only sigh with emotion that the sentence "smart people are sometimes better at cheating than stupid" is indeed the truth.

For him now, in addition to the necessary spell training time every day, the most important thing is to come to the library and transcribe some spells that suit him.

Especially the Book of Spells that Hermione had just said - that's what Lockhart is borrowing now.

Chapter 25 The Book of Spells

The Book of Spells can be said to be the culmination of all the practical spells discovered by wizards from the appearance of the magic world to the end of the 20th century, and its status in the magic world can be said to be supreme.

It has been in print for more than 200 years, and the latest edition was edited by Miranda Gorshak, a magic textbook writer, and has been translated into 72 languages, including Goblin language and Mermaid language, from This can also be seen from the importance that people in the magical world place on this book.

Hogwarts' spell textbooks for grades 1 to 7, "Standard Magic On-Level", are all part of the "Book of Spells", and the content is abridged, considering that some of the spells may not be suitable for young people to learn.

What's more interesting is that Lockhart found that in addition to the spells that Miranda Gorshak made up on the "Book of Spells", there are many practical new spells discovered in recent years in the corners.

If you look closely, these new spells are all handwritten, and many of them are still very immature. Some spells have their own names written under them, which are obviously done by the top students of Hogwarts over the years. They are afraid It's all for the sake of being famous.

You must know that there are very few wizards who can invent a new spell from scratch like a young Snape. Even the new magic experiment department of the Ministry of Magic has received a lot of applications for new spell experiments in the past year. less than 30.

All in all, this book is very valuable.

After Lockhart discovered this thing, of course he had to make good use of it. He swept the spells almost one by one, not even the ones handwritten by those students. To see which spells were suitable for his magic system, he would record them first, even for a while. If you don't need it for a while, you must first write down the essentials of the spell, and save it for later training.

And his approach was also remembered by the little witch who was writing his homework and peeking at him from time to time for two years:

Sure enough, people who can succeed are not without reason. Seize all the time you can use to learn, this is the only way to success.

As Hermione left the library, Lockhart politely said goodbye to Hermione

"If you have any banned books you want to borrow, come to me. I know too well what it's like to have books that you want to read but you can't read them."

Hermione was overjoyed—she was not only happy to have books to read, but more importantly, she had a reason to go to the office to find Lockhart.

"Professor, will you come to the library often in the future?" she asked.

"Of course." Lockhart replied rightfully, "Why give up such a good opportunity?"

After hearing this affirmative answer, Hermione clenched her fists secretly.

—From today onwards, I will be living in the library!

Seeing Hermione finally leaving, Lockhart was finally able to continue reading the borrowed book

Because it was the first day, Lockhart didn't have to mark the homework for the students even though he was a bit busy with his schoolwork, and the curfew on the students did not take effect for him as a professor, so he had a lot of time to work at night. own business,

During his year at Hogwarts, he had one thing he had to do - go to the Room of Requirement, get the Ravenclaw crown that Voldemort hid there, and then figure out a way to destroy Voldemort in it. soul.

This matter is of great significance, because it is Lockhart's "vote" to Dumbledore's lineup

It would be foolish to stand on the side of the pureblood family, who now seem to be dead.

The run-down nobles of Ren Liu will soon lose their power.

After the Battle of Hogwarts, the Death Eaters who followed Voldemort either died or were liquidated. Even if they were not sent to Azkaban to die, their family was severely damaged, even Draco Malfoy. expressed "repentance"

If it wasn't for Narcissa Malfoy's words Harry) he died," Lockhart said, the Malfoy family would have been devastated.

As the saying goes, a gentleman cannot stand under a dangerous wall. Only a foolish politician would put his future on a sinking ship. If he wanted to gain support, Lockhart would definitely choose a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

How good is the Order of the Phoenix, everyone's mind is so pure, and they are united only for the purpose of defeating Voldemort. Except for Kingsley, the rest of them are generally not very interested in power. The glory of identity, the political rights gained by defeating Voldemort, are all his own.

But it is not so easy to gain the trust of the Order of the Phoenix. Only by destroying Voldemort's Horcrux can he convince those people that he is a "comrade" who truly stands on their side, and thus has the ability to seize the post-war results. power.

The problem is that Lockhart, as a genuine Ravenclaw, must not use the fangs of the Slytherin Basilisk to solve the problem of the soul in the crown. . And Gryffindor's sword "will absorb substances that can enhance it", so it must absorb the venom of the basilisk before it has the ability to destroy the Horcrux, and it is useless to borrow it now.

As for destroying the crown with Fiery Fire and Killing Curse, it's even worse. Although Voldemort didn't put too much protection magic on it, Ravenclaw's crown itself has a number of self-healing and damage prevention spells. It's not a problem to crack it. What Lockhart can do now

Not to mention that it means too much to Ravenclaw in itself, if Lockhart destroys it with a fiery fire and makes it known, Flitwick

If he doesn't work hard with him, other Ravenclaw classmates will probably accuse him of lack of honor.

In the same way, if he chooses to give the Horcrux to Dumbledore, then he will get too little benefit - because he can't explain how he knows the Horcrux, so he can only give Dumbledore Said that he had discovered Ravenclaw's crown, and it seemed to have evil black magic attached to it. If he really did this, then the act of handing over the crown would lose the meaning of "voting the name".

This can only give him the honor of "discoverer", but it does not allow him to enter the inner circle of the Order of the Phoenix, so he must find a way to destroy it himself.

The only thing that comforted him was that horcruxes don't have to be destroyed with basilisk venom or fiery fire, which, in the words of Hermione's discovery in Poison Magic, "is destructive enough that the horcrux cannot repair itself. things" will do.

He didn't want to leave a history of borrowing "Toxic Magic" with the librarian, so he could only rummage through the "Book of Spells", trying to find some spells that he could use.

-Following the turn, he actually turned over a few spells that might wipe out Voldemort's soul without damaging the crown, but the danger of these spells is probably not much less than that of Li Huo.

For example, a medieval magic called "Summon the Executioner", which can help you remove a soul in a legal sense, whether it is a living body or a dead body, but the price is that the person who releases the spell will sacrifice his own soul.

As a standard egoist, Lockhart felt that even Voldemort's 1/7 of his soul was worth far less than an hour's lifespan, let alone his own soul, so of course he wouldn't do it. kind of "stupid"

There is also a "Banshee's Howl" that imitates the howling of a female ghost. It can use a special sound to slowly remove all nearby souls, especially souls without physical protection, with a weather-like effect. The cry dissipates very quickly

But the problem is also here, even if Lockhart can take the crown to the South Pole to release the Banshee's Howl, as the caster of the spell, Lockhart will also be affected by the Banshee's Howl, and this kind of effect on the soul. Sound is not something that can be solved by wearing earmuffs, and he instinctively rejects this kind of behavior.

In addition, there are "Dissociation" that can disintegrate all inanimate objects, and "Crushing Gears" that can permanently smash all physical objects. Lockhart believes that although they can indeed destroy Horcruxes, but At the same time, it will also cause irreversible damage to the crown, so it is not considered.

After reading these spells in the "Book of Spells", Lockhart could only sigh with emotion that it was indeed right to delete these things from the "Standard Spells" textbook.

Or, as usual, find a way to get the Dementor to give Voldemort's soul a kiss?

Chapter twenty-six tense class hours

Although Lockhart kept lamenting that nothing is perfect in this world, what he ignored or deliberately ignored was that he probably did not have enough ability to cast those spells.

In this world, there are many types of magic, but without exception, they all require the "willing power" of the wizard, that is, the strong desire brought by a certain emotion.

For example, the Patronus Charm requires people to think of happy or beautiful things before they can be cast. The Cruciatus Curse requires a will to harm others for one's own pleasure to achieve its effect, and the Killing Curse and Imperius Curse are roughly similar.

If there is no emotion, the effect of the spell cannot be exerted, and the effect of the three unforgivable spells may not be as good as the stun spell.

The reason why Lockhart is good at spiritual magic is largely because he likes to manipulate people's hearts and has a desire to stand out and make others worship him, and now there is one more Lockhart, that is The idea of ​​letting the wizarding society operate within the rules set by himself, so it is only natural that he is best at mental illusion magic.

But there must be losses. As a civil servant, what he hates the most is uncertainty, change and chaos, so his original talent in transfiguration has intensified, and it has fallen directly to the point where it is terrible.

After the 100th attempt to turn Gold Cup into Peppa Pig failed, Lockhart simply gave up his Transfiguration-related efforts and went all out to do something else.

So for a wizard, his personality, or his often accessible emotions, is the greatest "gift", not the size of magic.

After Lockhart understood this, he did not copy any of the spells that required Transfiguration, but made a lot of "interesting spells" that might be useful.

For example, the necessary skills for a night tour of Hogwarts—Illusionism

Considering the next day's class, Lockhart did not choose to start the night tour immediately, but practiced spells in his bedroom.

The spell of illusion is not difficult, he learned it in the blink of an eye.

In the book of spells, invisibility is also divided into several levels, and illusions such as deceiving others' vision belong to a relatively low level.

Advanced invisibility not only does not cause air blur, but can also deceive other people's perception, and even the air movement and smell can be blocked. These Lockhart decided to learn it later.

Therefore, in order to avoid bowing to the gazes of others, and in order to have a full breakfast for himself, Lockhart used the phantom technique to walk out of his dormitory.

Along the way, with the help of the illusion, he successfully avoided a number of girls who "ambushed" outside the dormitory and was about to "run into" with him, and passed by Peeves, and apparently found himself in front of him. The cat one by one "Mrs. Norris" lost a small dried fish, buy it and shut up.

It wasn't until he came to the auditorium and took his seat that Lockhart breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nice illusion, and I heard that your class yesterday was also impressive." Dumbledore suddenly appeared behind Lockhart.

Lockhart was taken aback: "Good morning, Headmaster! I made you laugh, have you been following?"

"There is no tracking. Anyone who sees a small dried fish suddenly thrown into the air will follow him curiously." Dumbledore answered his question.

In other words, I was still tracking, and I also used invisibility, maybe it was better than myself.

even more advanced.

But if you follow it, you will follow it. How can Lockhart take him?

"Would you like a syrup waffle, Headmaster." Lockhart remembered Dumbledore's fondness for sweets.

"Thank you." Dumbledore didn't refuse. "Gidro, I heard about your class... Do you think your classroom is a little smaller?"

Lockhart didn't know what it meant: "Of course, so in the second half of the semester, I plan to open the duel part of the course next to the Forbidden Forest, or next to the Quidditch pitch."

"It doesn't have to be such a hassle, and winters in the Scottish Highlands are not very pleasant, especially in the wild." Dumbledore said, "The Great Hall at Hogwarts is empty most of the time, only during meals. someone."

"So?" Lockhart asked tentatively.

Dumbledore didn't give a shit: "So as long as it's not meal time, you can come to the hall for dueling lessons in the morning, afternoon, and evening until nine o'clock. It's enchanted here, so don't worry about the students' spells causing damage. , and it doesn't let spells fly around.

I remember a long time ago, the school in Massachusetts lost a plane because students cast a Vanishing Charm in the wild, and it was only discovered a few months later in Armenia..."

"Thank you, Headmaster, I should use it soon." Lockhart cut him off decisively.

He knew Dumbledore's nature - as long as he wasn't talking about serious things in serious situations, he would never stop talking.

Lockhart's class the next day was still intense—yesterday it was seventh, sixth, fifth, and second graders, and today it was Defence Against the Dark Arts for third, fourth, and first graders, still six classes.

The thought that such days would continue for a whole year in the future made Lockhart tremble.

despair.

Fortunately, he didn't have to worry too much about the seventh and fifth grades. He could borrow the method from the Muggle side and solve the teaching problems with multiple rounds of review + intensive brushing. , these are all opportunistic things.

As for the third-year course, he only needs to "copy" Professor Lupin's teaching method, and he can deal with some dark creatures that are not very dangerous. He didn't have to catch the dark creatures himself, he could have bought them from the witcher - it wasn't a problem if money could solve it.

As for the first grade, what Lockhart has to teach them this year is also simple: escape.

"Don't underestimate escape. In front of a real dark wizard, even being able to escape successfully is a great achievement."

Facing the new Gudanzi who just entered school this year, Lockhart poured his thoughts into them to the fullest.

"Now you have not been systematically trained, and even if you successfully graduate from school in the future, you may not be able to take advantage of the confrontation with the dark wizard. After all, your future work is not killing people, it is at a professional level. The gap.. oo of course, there are not so many lunatics in this world who only think about killing people all day long.

Seeing that the joke he made did not make the little wizards laugh, but his face turned pale, Lockhart quickly made up for it.

"And professional Aurors - you can understand them as Muggles police - they can fight against those dark magic creatures and dark wizards. Just before asking for help from Aurors, we must first learn how to escape the pursuit of each other. .

Maybe you think the so-called escape is to run away, and I will tell you for the rest of the year - throughout the year - you are wrong! "

Chapter 27: Peeping from Lao Deng

Now, recite this spell with me - Nebulus

'丨"