Hogwarts: From Luna's House to Godhood Through Intense Competition

Chapter 19 Tell me the way to get rid of Dumbledore!

Throughout the journey, Lockhart carefully covered his hat to prevent any unexpected drafts from lifting it off.

It was right after class, and the students in the corridor looked at him with surprise, whispering among themselves.

"Why is Professor Lockhart still here?"

"Yeah! I thought he had run away from Hogwarts."

"Time for Potions! I can't give Snape a chance to lose points!"

……

The whispers behind his back made Lockhart feel extremely uncomfortable, almost as uncomfortable as the loss of his hair.

He sighed deeply, then noticed a student not far away—a fan who had come to visit him before—and quickly went up to him. "Amittina, what's the next class?"

“Professor Lockhart? The next class is History of Magic.” Amittina was full of surprise, but there was no surprise at all, not the kind of excitement Lockhart had hoped for.

That expression seemed to say, "Why are you still here?"

"History of Magic?" Lockhart tried his best to maintain a smile while pulling his hat tighter. "And what about Defense Against the Dark Arts? Are there other professors teaching that class?"

Amittina nodded. "Yes."

Seeing Amittina's actions, Lockhart eagerly pressed, "Who is that substitute professor? Snape? Or Flitwick?"

“An old wizard… who claims to be from Armenia,” Amittina replied. “Let’s call him 'Professor Avakian'…”

Before Amittina could finish speaking, Lockhart suddenly widened his eyes, felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, and the sounds around him seemed to echo.

Seeing Lockhart's pale face, Amittina asked with concern, "Professor Lockhart? Professor Lockhart? What's wrong?"

Lockhart let out a long breath, waved his hand, and said, "Where is that Avakian?"

“They should still be in the classroom; they have class soon.” Amittina frowned. “Professor Lockhart, are you alright? You look pale…”

"Hmm!" Lockhart replied casually, and quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.

……

The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was not far away, and the students around almost all had similar expressions of surprise when they saw Lockhart.

Lockhart couldn't care less about any of that now, constantly suppressing the growing anxiety in his heart, until he entered the classroom and saw a familiar figure.

A chill ran down his spine, and goosebumps rose all over his body. "Altom...Altom Avakian?"

“Teaching others is such a difficult task…it’s exhausting!” Artom Avakian was still complaining when he heard someone call his name. He looked over and asked, “Are you talking about me?”

Lockhart broke out in a cold sweat and stammered, "Why...why are you...here?"

Arthom Avakian stretched and said, "Dumbledore...sent me over to help, so I came."

"How did he find you?" Lockhart strode forward, seemingly trying to see every pore of Altom Avakian to confirm the identity of the person before him.

"Who are you?" Altom Avakian raised his eyebrows. "You don't look like a student... Why are you here?"

Lockhart gritted his teeth and said, "I am the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor! Gilderoy Lockhart!"

"You idiot! You only showed up now!" Arthom Avakian exclaimed, feigning sudden realization. "How long have I been covering for you? These Galleons are really lucrative!"

Lockhart suddenly realized the problem, pointed to himself, and asked, "You don't recognize me?"

Altom Avakian gave him a look of disgust. "You're not a new type of chip, why should I need to know you?"

"Oh! Damn it! It's hurting again!" He suddenly clutched his forehead, his right hand trembling as he reached into his pocket, pulled out a metal can, and drank from it.

Lockhart frowned and asked tentatively, "What's wrong?"

"God knows what's wrong! This awful stuff tastes terrible!" Altom Avakian spat, shook the metal can, and said, "My memory is damaged, I need this to stay awake."

"Memory damage?" Lockhart gasped, eagerly asking, "Why is that?"

"Why do you care about this?" Arthom Avakian said impatiently. "Now that you're back, I can finally relax and focus on my treatment!"

"What kind of treatment?" Lockhart patted his pocket. "If you're willing to tell me, I can give you a reward! One Gallon!"

Altom Avakian's eyes lit up. "Answer the question and I'll get a Gallon?"

“One Gallon per question!” Lockhart said solemnly. “Answer my question first! Come with me to my office later, and I’ll give it to you right away!”

Altom Avakian replied simply, "Then ask away! This is Hogwarts, after all, I'm not afraid you'll renege on your promise."

Why did you suffer from memory loss?

"I don't know, it's one Galon!"

"Who is helping you repair your memories?"

“Mr. Dumbledore, the payment is to let me teach.”

What is the most dangerous thing you have ever encountered?

"Once, to escape debt collectors, I ran into a dark wizard village, where I encountered a werewolf! That was so dangerous! I almost got bitten by the werewolf! I don't want to become a werewolf!"

"A werewolf?" Lockhart felt his heart skip a beat.

Arthom Avakian nodded and said, "Yes! He even specifically chose a full moon to duel me, clearly he had ill intentions! Four Galleons!"

Lockhart's lips trembled as he asked the next question: "Now... to what extent... have your memories returned?"

Arthom Avakian shrugged. "It's just a small part of my memory from a few years ago that hasn't been repaired. If I keep taking the medication, it should be fine in a year, right?"

"This is what Mr. Dumbledore told me. He said that this memory is the most important memory for me because it is the source of my memory damage."

"If I regain this memory, besides not having a headache anymore, I'll also find out who caused my memory loss! I'll make sure they get their hands on me!"

Lockhart felt a roar in his ears, "A small fragment of memory from a few years ago!"

"I'll go get you some Galleons right now..." He sauntered out of the classroom and headed toward his office.

“Five Galleons! Remember that!” Altom Avakian reminded him from behind.

Lockhart didn't know how he sat down; it was as if he had only been in a daze for a moment before he was back in his office.

"His memories can return... It's over! It's all over! Dumbledore!"

He took out the notebook with "TMRiddle" written on it and slowly wrote a line: "You say you can drive Dumbledore away? Then tell me how!"

As the writing on the notebook disappeared, he pursed his lips, his eyes flickering, and added another line: "And... can you help me grow my hair back?"

Chapter 20: The Initial Formation of the Animagus Thesis

As the Christmas holidays approach, Hogwarts is becoming increasingly lively.

The topics of discussion among the students have shifted, with everyone envisioning what to do and where to travel during the Christmas holidays.

With the discussions at the Duel Club decreasing, Vizet felt much more relaxed and gradually returned to his most familiar rhythm of study and life.

Vizette has devoted most of her energy to Animagus during this period;

The steps he now has to take out his wand every morning and evening, place the tip of the wand against his heart, and recite a long string of spells.

During the chanting, he could clearly feel a second heartbeat, which, along with a strange and intense curiosity, would also bring forth unusual images in his mind.

It was a flame burning like a surging wave, a flame that he was extremely familiar with. It was the very same flame that he had sensed through the Phoenix Mark during Phoenix Fox's rebirth.

This scene of Nirvana is constantly changing; as he chants the mantra each day, the flames are becoming solidified and transforming into the shape of an egg.

This is why Vizette plans to wait until after Christmas to travel to the Forbidden Forest to find the mysterious altar and try to summon thunderstorms using weather spells.

If his conjecture is correct, perhaps the Animagus form he transforms into will be an extremely rare and magical creature—a phoenix!

-------------------------------------

With such expectations in mind, the work on the Animagus paper officially began to move forward.

After discussing with Professor McGonagall, Wizette formally established the topic of the paper, defining it as "Improving the success rate and security of Animagus".

Because there are few successful cases of Animagus, and the overall process is extremely long, in addition to the two examples of Professor Wizette and Professor McGonagall, a large amount of literature needs to be collected to provide supporting evidence.

Aside from attending classes, Wizette spent almost all her time in the library. Finally, before the Christmas holidays, she completed the formal outline and expanded the main text based on the outline, completing the first draft.

……

After class, Wizette left the classroom with Professor McGonagall.

“This is…” Professor McGonagall took the notebook from Vizette, her expression suddenly changing. “The first draft of Animagus’s paper?”

“Yes, Professor McGonagall.” Vezel nodded, somewhat embarrassed, and said, “Because I’ve been a bit too busy lately.”

“Learning the weather spell…and some unexpected situations caused this first draft to be put on hold for the last few days, and I have only just finished writing it.”

Professor McGonagall opened her notebook and began to read through it page by page, her tone somewhat surprised, "This level of completion..."

“Yes, Professor McGonagall…” Wizett’s tone became even more embarrassed, “because of some special reasons, I am still postponing the final step.”

"The current completion rate is not high; it's only the first few steps. I've left out the part about taking medicine during thunderstorms, which should still affect the reading experience."

“Hmm…” Professor McGonagall murmured, looking at Vizet and sighing.

Just as Vizette was about to say something, Professor McGonagall reached out and patted Vizette on the shoulder, quickly reassuring her, "Vizette, you've done very well!"

"Of course that's not what I meant... The overall quality is actually quite high; it's just a matter of wording and argumentation that needs some revision. I'll take care of that part!"

“Professor McGonagall, thank you so much!” Vizette nodded repeatedly, finally letting out a sigh of relief. “Actually, you’ve already provided me with a lot of help…”