The slacker professor at Hogwarts

Chapter 362 Even if it means losing everything

Lockhart's Duel Club is changing the students at Hogwarts.

If one were to extract the most influential lesson from Lockhart's teachings for young wizards, it would undoubtedly be: "The magic in your hands is your life."

This is a sentence that Lockhart ultimately distilled from his continuous exploration of fairy tale theory, digging deeper into the magical life and wizarding existence.

Because of this statement, "fairytale adventure" is no longer about straying from the right path, but about bravely adjusting one's life path and immersing oneself in the atmosphere of "fairytale adventure".

Because of this statement, the young wizards don't end up like those in society who recklessly study magic and kill themselves; they always manage to grasp the direction of magic.

Professor Lockhart said, "Dumbledore's life and magic are guided by love; he himself is passionate, and Voldemort is me."

So the young wizards began to truly dissect themselves.

This was a very personal thing, but after it was brought up and discussed at the Duel Club sharing session, it gradually developed into a culture of nicknames within their small circle.

Because he only cares about me, the Dark Lord came into being.

Because of love, not principles and rules, the White Demon King came into being.

Of course, out of respect for elders, the practice of giving nicknames to them is mostly applied to the elders themselves.

Hermione has a nickname: the test-taker.

This isn't meant as mockery; Hermione herself agrees with the title.

She lacks spirituality, she lacks even a little bit of the romance of a wizard, but that doesn't matter, because of the sharing sessions, because of everyone's guidance, she is walking on her own magical path.

She always manages to perfectly execute the magic lessons the professors teach in class.

She could always perfectly answer questions about things in library books that even the editors themselves were puzzled by.

She's a test-taker, a perfect test-taker.

Professor Dumbledore said that we need to find the magic that we can control, the measure that we can measure, and she did it perfectly. She easily found the "Bird Charm" among the countless spells she knew.

It is domineering, filled with a desire to control everything with its own will.

It is also romantic, arising from nothing and moving at will, flitting between reality and illusion.

What happens after you gain control?

Hermione vividly remembered Professor Lockhart's explanation of the path to becoming a master magician—exploring the magical realm unique to one's own life, then constantly using one's own life to deconstruct the magic of all mainstream disciplines, continuously expanding the boundaries of magic, and at the same time, expanding the boundaries of life itself.

Hermione felt that with just that one sentence, Professor Lockhart was enough to leave a significant mark on the history of magic, existing as a guiding light for all wizards. This was a clear guidance that Dumbledore, Grindelwald, Voldemort, and others could achieve but could not summarize.

So, is Asuka her life?

of course not!

She was far from entering that magical realm that belonged only to her, because her life was still too shallow. She was only 14 years old, and a shallow life could not forge a magical realm that belonged only to her.

But she's a perfect test-taker.

The path of magic has been explored by many powerful wizards, and observed by Professor Lockhart, one of the greatest writers of our time.

Analyze and summarize, then generously present it before them, explaining it thoroughly without getting tired of it. Don't you understand how to do it?

Applying a formula to anything is the fastest way.

Hermione can simply follow this approach: using the "Bird Charm," a spell she can control, as a benchmark, she continuously deconstructs, recombines, dismantles, and incorporates all the spells she possesses.

So she entered a realm that was extremely unfamiliar to most wizards.

One magic spell at your command!

The feeling of casting the spell was very similar to that of a guardian deity spell.

Once she casts a spell to summon a guardian deity, the other guardian deities will take care of the task on their own.

Here’s the interesting part: Professor Lockhart said that the power of the Guardian Angel actually comes from one’s own spirituality and soul; it is actually another dimension of oneself.

So magic changes according to her heart. She doesn't need to control birds to grow giant claws to grab those Cornish elves, nor does she need birds to transform into full-body binding spells to deal with trolls. She only needs to work hard in her past life to learn how to deal with these monsters.

Then, she took control of the Bird Spell, which naturally responded to each situation with her mind, and naturally made changes.

This is what Professor Lockhart described—magic blossoming naturally.

This is the magical path she has explored!

The story follows a character who grows up in Muggle culture, then enters the magical world as a child to experience wizarding culture, and ultimately forges a magical path that is a fusion of Muggle and wizarding ways of thinking.

Following Professor Lockhart's guidance, following the path Professor Lockhart walked!

As she walked, the view suddenly opened up before her, and before she knew it, she had arrived at a vast and open world.

Magic suddenly became elegant in her hands.

It was an extremely enjoyable kind of effortless mastery.

All the clear answers she had obtained from solving problems in the past were now naturally leading to her victory, thanks to the help of magic.

So she sat so easily on the troll's shoulder, looking down at everything, her wand gently swaying, controlling the birds flying all over the sky.

"Nawei!"

Harry shouted anxiously and propelled his flying broomstick toward Neville.

There, Neville, his body glowing with a stone-like light, fell from his flying broom, crashing to the ground from a great height like a large rock.

Harry couldn't just stand by and do nothing; he could easily handle this.

He swiftly waved his wand, powerfully repelling all the birds within a few hundred meters, and with a quick swoop, he arrived beside Neville, reached out, and grabbed him firmly.

However, in that instant, Neville's head in his arms suddenly transformed into a large, emerald-green bird's head.

A pair of emerald green wings unfurled and instantly enveloped Harry.

"Oops!"

Harry realized he'd fallen for their trap!

Finding solutions for specific characteristics—Hermione clearly did this very well.

His wand was snatched away by the bird's claws, his body quickly turned to stone and stiffened, and he plummeted from the sky.

bang~

He crashed heavily to the ground. The bird's body absorbed all the shock, but it also bound him tightly inside like an unbreakable piece of chewing gum.

He could only watch helplessly as his teammates in the sky were taken down one by one and thrown to his side, and then he watched as the giant descended from the sky and slowly landed in front of him.

Driven by the armor formed from the birds on its body, the troll knelt on one knee. Hermione, perched on its shoulder, leaped lightly to the ground, looking down at them with a smug smirk. "I told you, I can take on all of you by myself now!"

"Wow~~~"

The onlookers erupted in cheers.

This made Hermione even more smug.

She quickly waved her wand to dispel the various magical restrictions on everyone, and then was picked up by screaming little witches like Ginny and Luna, lifted high in the air, and cheered.

Celebrate the Duel Club's first Battle Master!

Yes, it's a name they came up with themselves, and everyone's screaming and getting excited like crazy.

"Hermione, you're amazing!" Harry exclaimed in admiration.

Just then, a middle-aged witch squeezed through the crowd, holding a manuscript and a mechanical quill pen, gesturing to a reporter nearby to take a picture of the scene.

"Ms. Granger, may I interview you?" Rita asked excitedly.

Hermione was put down by everyone and nodded to Rita. "Of course, I can invite you to our dueling club's territory, have a cup of tea and chat."

Rita was taken aback, then burst into laughter, "Great, of course!"

Life is magic, and magic is life. As Hermione embarks on her magical journey, her life unfolds.

She wasn't quite sure what she longed for, but she knew she had always wanted to make a difference.

Rita can be really annoying at times, but she's also really useful. Hermione needs this article to build her reputation.

Yes, it's still the same approach I learned from Professor Lockhart.

"How did you do that?" Rita asked impatiently as they walked toward Lockhart Building.

Hermione simply smiled. "The details are very complicated and could take a whole day to explain. You can report directly because of Professor Lockhart's teachings."

Rita was now truly impressed. She looked Hermione up and down, exclaiming, "You really should go to Ravenclaw!"

Hermione smiled and shook her head, saying to herself, "I know many people are curious, so I will write down everything in detail how I did it and publish a book."

"Published a book?" Rita exclaimed in surprise, turning around to look at the figure surrounded by the young wizards of the Duel Club. Was Gilderoy Lockhart really that influential among these students?

"Yes, I've already thought of a title: 'Giddro Lockhart's Guide to the Path to Magical Mastery and Hermione Granger's Practice.'" Hermione spoke quickly, drawing Rita's attention back. "This book will be published in the 'Duel Club Gazette,' and I sincerely hope our newspaper can get your help."

Rita chuckled, "You've come to the right person! I also contributed to Gilderoy's bestseller; you'll need me!"

It's fascinating how the student force created by Lockhart is rising again and beginning to spread its influence across society.

Hermione was too lazy to give Rita a long lecture on the theories of magic, but she was happy to share how she had just done it at the Duel Club sharing session.

Rita was very happy about this and took out her notebook to write it down.

She decided that if Hermione's tips were indeed effective, perhaps she could forgo putting the most important parts in the report and instead focus on improving her own abilities.

Rita also longs to become stronger, especially as these young wizards are improving rapidly. If she doesn't keep up with the group, she'll easily fall behind.

Unfortunately, the young wizards of the Duel Club kept interrupting Hermione's conversation.

"We know all that!" Draco said, clearly dissatisfied.

"Hey, Hermione, tell us something we don't know." Even George and Fred meant the same thing.

Hermione simply shrugged on the stage. "Yes, guys, you all know what I know. I'm just putting these things together."

That's really uncomfortable.

Many people get stuck at the first step: finding the magic they can control.

We've come back to the original question.

Hermione's sharing was nothing new; it was all knowledge, ideas, and theories that Professor Lockhart and other professors had shared. The only thing to do was to put them into perfect practice.

This path suits Hermione well; she excels at everything at school, but it might not be suitable for everyone here.

"This is more like the magical path for good kids!" George said with a miserable expression, his face scrunched up like a crumpled orange.

"Yes," Fred said, sounding quite frustrated, "more suitable for people like Percy and Cedric."

For students like them who study unconventional or poor academically, taking this magical path will only expose their weaknesses, and they can never hope to defeat Hermione.

Even if they could find magic that suits them and allows them to easily control it, and then extend and encompass all the magic they have learned, their mastery of magic is not as comprehensive as Hermione's encyclopedic knowledge.

On the contrary, the ideas shared by Draco and Ron are more suitable for them to explore a specific spell in depth and extend from that spell to similar spells.

For example, the casting concept of the "Flying Towards Charm" shared by Fleur Delacour, a new member of the Duel Club, is very suitable for the twin brothers.

They are skilled in status control magic such as "flying spells" and "magnification/shrinking spells".

"Well said, Ms. Granger!" Professor McGonagall was very pleased and deeply moved by the unique atmosphere of the sharing session. She also joined in and shared her own views based on what Hermione had said.

"In fact, the way Hermione just described has a core element—Transfiguration."

She gestured to Ron in the crowd, "Here I must commend our Mr. Ron Weasley, who used many restoration techniques when dealing with Hermione's bird spell."

Transfiguration has five major disciplines.

These are the Polymorph Charm (for a single target), the Transformation Charm (for two targets), the Vanish Charm (for transforming from existence to non-existence), the Summoning Charm (for transforming from non-existence to existence), and the Restore Charm (for removing the polymorph).

"Restore is a good way to counter summoning spells and make contact with these strange, shapeshifting summons."

Professor McGonagall's voice was light and cheerful, "But actually, when faced with a summoning spell that has been combined with other magic, the Vanishing Charm is a better solution, while the Conversion Charm can transfer the attack we suffer to the other party."

She gently waved her wand, and a small emerald green bird flew out, flapping its wings and circling in mid-air before suddenly bursting into flames, like a ball of fire hurtling towards her.

Professor McGonagall gently raised her wand. "Demonstration of the Conversion Charm."

Bang~!

The bird, wreathed in flames, struck the tip of the wand and exploded.

But quite abruptly, the burst of flames appeared at the empty doorway of the dueling club's meeting room.

With a flick of the wand, another little bird flew in, bursting into flames.

"The Vanishing Curse."

The bird and the flame vanished without a trace in an instant.

Professor McGonagall smiled at Hermione. "What came to mind?"

Hermione looked somewhat troubled. "It seems that my method of casting spells still has its limitations."

It's really tough. She had just been showing off for a little while when Professor McGonagall came to explain how to solve it.

"Change your mind, Ms. Granger!" Professor McGonagall gestured with her wand, shaking it. "Think again?"

Hermione couldn't figure it out.

Ginny, standing nearby, excitedly shouted, "Hermione can use this method too!"

"You got it right!" Professor McGonagall smiled with satisfaction. "If this were in class, I would definitely give you extra points."

She waved her wand gently, and a flock of birds flew out, circling and dancing rapidly above the group.

Then, to everyone's amazement, the birds appeared and disappeared.

Sometimes they disappear completely, and other times they reappear from nowhere.

It flickered and shimmered as it hovered.

What's even more interesting is that some of these birds are covered in frost, some are crackling with electricity, and some are bursting with flames. As they appear and disappear rapidly, some sharp-eyed young wizards notice that these birds are taking turns with each other.

huh~

A small bird engulfed in flames swooped down on Hermione, and as she hesitated to draw her wand to fight it, the bird vanished in a flash.

Danger!

She keenly sensed the danger and could no longer resist drawing her wand to cast a spell, quickly circling it halfway before pressing it down to the lower left.

This is the counter-curse of the Fire Curse, which can easily dispel the flames on the suddenly appearing bird.

To her astonishment, however, she failed; the magic exploded before her eyes, turning into a cool, misty spray.

Professor McGonagall had instantly transformed Firebird into Waterbird.

Having faced her feelings so directly, Hermione immediately remembered Professor McGonagall's advice.

"It's important to remember that Polymorph isn't just about transformation and summoning. Vanish Charm, Transformation Charm, and Restore Charm can all be used when casting Polymorph."

That concludes Professor McGonagall's presentation.

Hermione was deeply shocked, feeling that the magical path that had just become wider had become even brighter and clearer.

That's so great!

She became very excited.

Not only her, but many people were deeply inspired. Lockhart and a few others listened in, each with their own thoughts.

Hermione's method of casting spells clearly resonated with Lupin, who became engrossed in thought, his mind filled with countless ideas he wanted to try.

But I still have things to do right now.

The group left the meeting room and took the elevator upstairs.

Lockhart and Lupin plan to witness Sirius awaken Snape, and are filled with curiosity about the upcoming spell.

"I used a lot of ominous forces this time and discovered a huge problem."

Sirius Black pushed open the door, led everyone into the room, and muttered, "Ominousness doesn't suit me!"

Lockhart looked at him with surprise and curiosity.

Sirius pursed his lips. "Yes, I always feel that everything I bring is terrible, and it fills my whole life with misfortune."

"So my heart is resistant; I only fill those I hate with malice, imbuing them with an aura of misfortune, but even this aura never feels enough!"

His voice turned icy. "I don't want them to suffer at all; I want them to die!"

"Of course, of course, I know that hatred solves nothing."

Sirius took a deep breath. "So I've been reflecting on what this power has actually brought me."

"I first discovered that the root of the ominous sign was eternity, but interestingly, none of the Black family members who gave me such power in my bloodline lived long; they were all devoured by the ominous sign."

His parents, the parents of the three Bella sisters, and even their ancestors, were all dead.

It was either war or some other kind of problem that caused them to die young.

It was an accident.

But it wasn't unexpected.

He raised an arm, his fingers tracing a path from his wrist to the elbow, murmuring, "Ominousness is the power of blood, not my power, much less the will of my heart."

"Isn't that interesting? Blake carries an ominous burden—"

Lockhart seemed thoughtful. "So you mean...?"

Sirius Black turned to look at everyone, a long, elegant smile spreading across his face, tinged with a sense of world-weariness. "Yes, Black carried the burden of misfortune and then faced the bright sunshine. I think I was right. All the Blacks in history, including my parents, uncles, and aunts, were wrong!"

"I can prove all of this!"

He drew his wand, turned to look at the unconscious Snape on the bed, and said, "Giddleau, you once said that magic is life, and life is magic. The path to becoming a master magician lies in walking the path of magic that is uniquely our own life—"

"If that's truly the case, then my spell will prove that my thinking is correct!"

The following casting sequence is quite interesting.

Lockhart had an extremely impactful experience with the mystical.

As Sirius raised his wand, a dark shadow emerged from beneath his feet, stretching like a shadow to the wall beside him, transforming into an ominous black dog.

Sirius turned to look at everyone, gesturing with his eyes to the shadow on the wall. "Do you know what this means?"

"Ominous." Lockhart gave a clear answer. He could feel the terrifying power of this magic, and he had no desire to get involved with these dark things.

"My misplacement in the world!" Lupin looked at the ominous black dog shadow with some sadness. He seemed to feel from this ominous sign the unbearable time when he uncontrollably turned into a werewolf on the night of the full moon.

Snape, whose starlight emanated from Sirius's chest, offered another answer: "I think... it's sunlight!"

Lockhart and Lupin were stunned.

Snape gestured towards Sirius's path, "It's a very clear picture, isn't it? Light creates shadow, and the dark shadows behind you are actually formed by the light in front of you!"

"Damn it!"

Sirius glared at Snape, clearly annoyed. "I should be the one saying these things. You can't get the answers from my soul and then casually finish what I should have said!"

This was supposed to be me showing off!

I've installed everything for you!

These are the words I used to tease you, and hearing them come out of your mouth is disgusting!

Nausea!

Snape merely raised an eyebrow at Sirius, a mocking smile playing on his lips. He then adopted a deliberately elegant, old-fashioned aristocratic posture and, in a distinctly Sirius-esque aria, uttered, "Ah... Black carries an ominous bloodline because the future is filled with light!"

puff~

Lockhart chuckled and couldn't help but laugh. How come he hadn't noticed that Severus had become so mischievous?

Lupin was also struggling to hold back, trying his best to suppress the corners of his mouth.

shit!

You piece of shit, you slug!

Sirius Black could no longer contain himself; he couldn't stand the state of Snape and his soul being intertwined for even a second longer, and he forcefully waved his wand to cast a spell.

A brilliant yet peaceful light emanated from the tip of his wand.

That light seemed exactly like sunlight, allowing people to directly feel the warmth and vitality of all things growing.

As the light grew brighter, the ominous black dog shadow emanating from behind Sirius became increasingly vivid and dark.

The sun shines, creating ever-changing weather, and the starlight fades away.

Snape, who was lying unconscious on the bed, slowly opened his eyes, sat up, and let out a sigh of relief. "I can only feel alive when I'm in my own body."

"so----"

Lockhart stared in astonishment at the scene before him. "The power of the Black family, oh, or rather, your path of magic, is it really the light? The light that creates ominous shadows?"

"To face the light and bear the calamity is to live forever," Sirius Black said, offering the answer.

Damn!

It's all Snape's fault, that slug!

He doesn't have much of his usual force when he says those words now!

"What is this? The power of blessing?" Lockhart cut to the chase, curiously observing Sirius and Snape's spiritual states, when suddenly his eyes lit up. "A correction of my existence in the world?"

He gasped and looked at Lupin. "Hey, buddy, Sirius seems to be able to cure your wolfsbane!!"

!

""

Immediately, Lupin, Sirius, and Snape stared at Lockhart in disbelief. Then, Lupin and Sirius exchanged a bewildered glance. "It seems like it really can?"

Lu Ping staggered back, tears welling in his eyes. "I—Wolfsbane—"

Lohat nodded. "We need more precise control. Don't ruin the werewolf accent I helped you develop, Sirius. We can try it out with some werewolves first. Congratulations, you might become the savior in the eyes of all werewolves!"

Sirius swallowed hard.

Merlin's braided nose hairs! This is simply his favorite thing to do: to act out of justice, help others, and become a hero!

Snape glanced at Lupin, his voice low and somber, "You finally gained the ability of the Werewolf's Tongue, allowing you to easily control these werewolves and establish a new werewolf community to protect them. This is the power and the sense of being needed that you, after a life of mediocrity, have finally achieved. This is the place where you can finally prove your worth. Are you really willing to give it up?"

"Of course!" Lupin answered decisively, his voice choked with emotion. "If it can help these poor werewolves, I'd be willing to lose everything!"

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