The slacker professor at Hogwarts

Chapter 368 I am terrifyingly strong now

Lockhart officially embarked on the path of a magic master after inventing the "Thunderstorm Mountain Fire" magic. He also invented some magic involving weather spells, such as "Mind Cleansing".

Dumbledore once joked that these spells were difficult to teach to young wizards, and that almost no one could learn them.

As it turns out, Lao Deng, a veteran who has spent his entire life immersed in the field of teaching, has an extremely unique perspective.

Old Deng's involvement in and profound influence on the construction of the modern magic system, including the selection of magic for each discipline at the 11 officially registered magic schools worldwide, all had their own purpose.

Simple, basic, and easy to use.

In Lockhart's fairy tale theory, it means constantly using these disciplines to expand the boundaries of the young wizards' magical realm, thereby expanding the boundaries of their magical lives.

This approach has an extremely strong Dumbledore-esque style.

That means I'll give you a platform and a foundation; the rest is up to you to develop and grow.

For example, the Marauders went to explore the Animagus, which was not taught in the classroom, and Snape went to improve the potion recipes in the textbook.

This applies to teaching methods as well as to life and work.

Dumbledore consistently used this pattern when handling matters concerning the Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry of Magic.

This is good for the mediocre, because they can live more easily within the system. It's also good for the excellent, who have a strong foundation and can grow wildly without restriction.

It's only not very friendly to those who are neither here nor there, such as Lupin and Peter Pettigrew of the Order of the Phoenix, and Fudge of the Ministry of Magic.

"This system worked very well and produced the most powerful wizard in history," but unfortunately, he was a dark wizard, Tom Riddle.

If Tom had followed the right path, he would have been the best illustration of Dumbledore's great life. Unfortunately, Tom became the evil villain Voldemort, thus becoming a major stain on the extension of Dumbledore's magical ideas to the world.

This inevitably caused Dumbledore to begin to doubt himself, re-examining whether there had been any problems with his past actions.

This is the deepest reason why Dumbledore was able to tolerate Lockhart's attempts at curriculum reform and fairy tale adventure exercises after he entered Hogwarts.

Thus, Dumbledore had to endure the second bitter fruit of his life.

As Gilderoy Lockhart continues to expand the boundaries of magic, profoundly influencing more and more people, the entire wizarding world becomes increasingly vibrant, benefiting both the good and the bad.

The ultimate consequence was that Dumbledore found Voldemort to be much harder to kill.

Does he really want to allow Tom Riddle to continue shining in this world?

of course not!

A fallen soul can certainly become good, but one after another, people who have been hurt and died in the past cannot be brought back to life.

Having deeply experienced the pain of losing loved ones, Dumbledore knew all too well that he had no right to forgive Tom on behalf of those who had died.

What should we do then?

Tom's life, which had seemingly stopped, began to move forward again, but so did Gellert's life, which had also seemingly stopped.

Dumbledore sometimes felt somewhat powerless in the face of Tom, but Gellert was far more adept at dealing with that.

It could be said that if Dumbledore had been replaced by Gellert as the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort's fate would have been uncertain, but the pure-blood families would never have unanimously supported this villain, and the Death Eaters would have long since disintegrated.

Pureblood supremacy?

Does it represent the interests of a group?

Ha, I've made you represent no one, making you the only villain that even the most evil person would be wary of.

Dark Lord?

Ha, no, nobody calls Voldemort that anymore. Everyone just calls him the evil dark wizard, or even a terrorist.

After Sirius Black's masterclass, neither Dumbledore nor Grindelwald attended Lockhart's instruction to all the contestants; instead, they privately discussed matters concerning Tom.

Grindelwald’s warnings were always so effective: “You can certainly expect Tom to become a good man, but you can never believe that as he becomes a good man and rises in status and power, he will re-expose his ambitions and the vicious means he will instinctively use to achieve them.”

A dragon can eliminate the three evils and become a hero, but the evil in its bones can easily turn a glorious hero back into a dragon.

Grindelwald was once a dragon, but why did everyone tolerate his existence? Why did no one ever punish the saints? It's because he was a reformer, and he acted in the great interests of the wizarding community.

Tom only ever cares about himself.

This is the most alarming thing, and it's also the reason why they will never approve of Tom.

At Gellert's invitation, the two crossed the New Age Basin to a large ship on Durmstrang's mountain lake, enjoying the sea breeze blowing from the Arctic direction and savoring black tea and dried squid.

This was probably the umpteenth time they had discussed Tom.

Gellert sometimes complains that Tom's current state of being so open and legitimate is not only due to the continued progress of the magical path brought by Gilderoy, but also related to Gilderoy's own will to allow Tom to appear.

They were both unconsciously respecting and wary of the young man, Gilderoy Lockhart's, attitude.

Overall, however, both bigwigs had a very good impression of Gilderoy, and wouldn't consider him an adversary.

"Lockhart's spellcasting today has given me a lot to think about—"

Dumbledore stood at the ship's wheel, holding a cup of tea, gazing at the boundless lake. The sea breeze howled, whipping his long white beard and hair, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

"We all have our most authentic self and our most realistic self. The self that exists in the world radiates the light of the spiritual self and also profoundly influences the world."

"So I vaguely grasped a key point in his fairy tale theory."

Grindelwald listened attentively. He knew that Albus had a very deep understanding and thought about Gilderoy's fairy tale theory, and in many things he was more realistic than Gilderoy, who was more inclined towards magic.

"That is, in the mystical dimension, the relationship between one's place in the world and one's spiritual self."

"The savior story we've been crafting for over a decade has continuously reinforced Tom's villainous image throughout wizarding society, and I suspect his serpentine transformation and loss of intelligence may be related to this."

Dumbledore said in a low voice, "Later you got involved and saw how he gradually and quietly became the person everyone could accept, even though many people were still wary and angry with him."

Grindelwald nodded. "Gilderoy said it was because he 'reverted' from Voldemort back to 'Tom,' and not just the two of us, but everyone's attitude towards him was affected. That's how 'my' change in the world changes 'the world.'"

Dumbledore sighed, "Yes, if Gilderoy hadn't pointed it out, we wouldn't have noticed the problem. Even though we were still on guard against the potential damage Tom could cause at any moment."

"Today Sirius Black spoke of mystical powers, and Lockhart demonstrated how spirituality can manifest in reality —"

He turned around, his azure eyes sharp. "This confirms my previous suspicions. Tom's nature hasn't changed, so his spirituality can't have undergone such a drastic transformation. He must have stolen some kind of power, such as the power of the relationship magic field."

Grindelwald could understand this reasoning because they had previously analyzed Tom's ghostly appearances around Lockhart and the strange magic between Tom and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Old Ge gasped sharply. "You!"

"Your location!"

"Remember? He now possesses Dumbledore's Phoenix affinity!"

Dumbledore gave a self-deprecating smile. "Respect existence, and be wary of all the actions that existence may take and the destruction it may bring to the world. Sometimes, when I look at Tom in his current state, I have the illusion of looking in a mirror."

"Oh~" Grindelwald comforted his friend, "Don't think like that. You know you've earned the respect of many people."

Dumbledore didn't mind these things. He shook his head. "I've also noticed some recent changes. I instructed Gilderoy to find a way to influence Tom. He used the power of time to subtly instill some ideas about my Transfiguration into Tom, which allowed me to perceive that Tom is becoming more and more like me."

"so----"

"I want to make a bold attempt!"

As he spoke, he drew his Elder Wand, gently waving it to find that feeling, chanting Lockhart's incantation for the Felix Felicis Charm, "Anima, protect!"

A silver light stretched out from his feet and extended behind him, spreading out and surging.

Soon, it began to solidify into a physical form.

A silvery entity over twenty meters tall.

The wondrous silver light slowly coalesced into the image of a phoenix, but on the body of this phoenix was coiled a giant venomous snake.

The serpent's cold body coiled around the phoenix's body, its fangs biting viciously into the phoenix's neck, while its pair of cold, sinister vertical pupils stared intently at Dumbledore.

"Bang!"

Grindelwald jumped to his feet, staring intently at the scene, and roared angrily, "How dare he!"

Dumbledore turned around, looking at the shadow with a complicated expression. "That phoenix isn't me; it's him."

"Huh?" Grindelwald's understanding of Gilderoy's fairy tale concepts, especially the spiritual dimension, was rather superficial. This was the part that conflicted more with his magical concepts, and he found it difficult and did not want to understand it too deeply.

"A somewhat inaccurate description —"

Dumbledore raised his hand to the snake. "This is Voldemort, the past history he secretly concealed."

He then gestured to the phoenix, "This is Tom, the Tom who is now appearing before everyone as a member of the Hogwarts family, a member of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's family."

He gazed up at the scene, thinking, "He's clearly learned some of the tricks of a life thief."

Grindelwald rolled his eyes. "I told you Gilderoy was dangerous!"

Dumbledore smiled and shook his head. "That's the crux of the matter. Gilderoy isn't actually a life thief; he just longs for a magical life. He may not have had a magical life before, so he craves what others have. He's always been pursuing the fairytale romance of magic."

"Tom obviously doesn't understand this; his dark and brooding mind will never comprehend what romance is."

"Look, the real him is constantly devouring the him that's currently appearing before everyone!"

"The reason is simple: no matter how much he longs to be a part of the Hogwarts family, he can never get anything out of this wonderful thing. His short-sightedness, which only focuses on his own interests and gains, will eventually cause him to lose this wonderful thing."

Whether someone is a thief of life really depends on the person they are.

Gilderoy's magical life path truly belongs only to him; those who learn from him live, those who imitate him die, and those who cannot learn from him are ultimately just a mirage.

"That's the crux of the matter, you see?" Dumbledore looked up at the silver light and shadow, watching it extend all the way to his feet. "This is his spirit, but now, because of some connection to the power of the magical realm, it has appeared here with me."

"Do you think there's a flaw in this magical relationship that even he himself has started to overlook?"

"A Voldemort would be frantically vigilant and extremely attentive, but Tom would subconsciously overlook the gap?"

Grindelwald, being such a clever fellow, reacted instantly, "Harry! Harry Potter!"

"The remnant of Voldemort's soul within his lightning bolt scar? That Horcrux in its unique state? Oh, in Gilderoy's words, it's the anchor of 'me' from some past world'?"

Dumbledore slowly smiled. "Yes!"

We're back to square one!

"Professor Trelawney's prophecy is still in effect, but you know, although I've noticed the problem, I'm not very knowledgeable about the occult." Old Deng really wasn't very good at this.

But Grindelwald, that prophet, was far too adept at it.

"Leave it to me!"

He chuckled, "Tom, Voldemort, Harry, you, Gilderoy—"

"I think I know what to do!"

Old Ge gazed up at the unique, spiritual image, a dangerous smile on his face. "I'm really looking forward to seeing this venomous snake finally bite the phoenix to death, and then be burned to death by the phoenix!"

Pushing forward a possible future that he can foresee is incredibly easy for him; he's good at it.

"What do you plan to do?" Dumbledore asked curiously.

"These things are hard to say if you tell!" Grindelwald said mysteriously. "Just look forward to the Quidditch duel in a few days, and you'll find out then."

"I hope Tom will like this wonderful gift I gave him!"

"But then again—"

Grindelwald snapped out of his reverie of the serpent devouring the phoenix, looking at Dumbledore with a hint of confusion. "That's Tom's spirit, right? What about yours?"

Dumbledore simply smiled and gestured behind him with his lips.

Grindelwald paused for a moment, looked behind him but saw nothing. Suddenly realizing something, he strode to the edge of the cabin, pushed open the window, and looked out.

Suddenly, a silver streak of light emerged from the large ship and stretched towards the sky in a barely perceptible trail of silver light.

Above the sky, a colossal silver phoenix, large enough to blot out the sun, slowly flapped its wings, its massive body capable of obscuring the boundless mountain lake. It stared intently at Tom's ethereal phantom on the boat, as if it were an insect.

"Merlin's bell nose ring!"

Grindelwald exclaimed, "That's really interesting magic!"

He suddenly became interested.

"You really should try it." Dumbledore squinted, sensing the unique power of the magic. "I feel terrifyingly powerful right now!"

Truly, for the first time in his life, he felt an awe at someone's "how kind of you are to others," and at Gilderoy Lockhart, who invented this terrible curse.

This magic might really change the future completely!