Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 186 Ximo's Wonderful Fantasy

Attending ghost parties could be a selling point for the book. If some legendary stories could be unearthed from the ghosts, then the famous adventurer Lockhart would have another legendary experience.

Loren guided Lockhart's imagination in this direction: "Professor, you know, ghosts think differently than the living. If you want to know anything from them, you have to go along with what they want..."

"Yes, yes, that's right!" Lockhart's smile grew even brighter as he listened to Loren's words. He was already immersed in the fantasy of his new book becoming a bestseller, as if he could see yet another Merlin Medal beckoning to him.

"This party is being held by Count Nicholas to celebrate his 500th death anniversary, and I think if you could help Count Nicholas make the party even more perfect..." Loren said.

Harry thought he might be seeing things, but he saw a fox tail swaying behind Loren.

For the next hour, Harry didn't copy the envelopes either; he just stared blankly as Loren tricked Lockhart into helping Nick host a party, and warned Lockhart not to act on his own but to follow the ghost's lead.

"Come...come here...let me...tear you apart...kill you..." A chilling, breathless, cold and vicious voice suddenly rang out.

Harry jumped in fright; it was that voice. He had heard the same voice before.

It was definitely not an illusion, nor was it a sound from any castle. Taking advantage of Lockhart's inattention, Harry looked around, trying to find the source of the sound.

Everywhere you look, there are portraits of Lockhart, and every single one of them is smiling.

Noticing Harry's gaze, Lockhart's portraits grinned at him, revealing their teeth, their smiles turning into radiant grins.

Harry felt a deep chill; those suspicious smiles seemed not to be directed at him, but at some unseen being beside him. So fake, so eerie.

"There's definitely something wrong with this Lockhart!" Harry thought to himself.

On the other side, Loren, who could no longer hear Parsley's voice, completely led Lockhart into the pit, which was then sealed off with cement.

He had no idea that Harry behind him had already imagined a whole drama, inadvertently concluding that Lockhart was the problem.

After the conversation ended, Loren politely bid farewell to Lockhart, and as soon as the office door closed, he let out a deep sigh.

Lockhart pulled off a perfect plan: Harry escaped confinement, but Lockhart himself was the only one who lost out, having spent the entire night convincing others that his progress in learning the Oblivion Charm was zero.

After walking a distance until Lockhart's office was completely out of sight, Harry looked at him with a serious expression: "Loren, Lockhart is an evil dark wizard!"

Loren was somewhat surprised; he had thought Harry wouldn't discover Lockhart's true nature until the end of the school year. Intrigued, he asked curiously, "How did you figure it out?"

"Remember the strange noise I mentioned in the hallway last time? I heard it again in the office just now. It must be Lockhart's hidden dark magic artifacts causing trouble."

Loren fell silent. This reasoning wasn't wrong, but it was ridiculously wrong.

Harry frowned deeply. "We must tell the professor and Headmaster Dumbledore immediately!"

"No, without evidence, the headmaster and professors won't believe us. We need evidence, we need to find out Lockhart's true colors!" Harry said to himself, quickly sorting out his thoughts and smoothly arriving at the conclusion that they should act on their own.

Absolutely no problem, this is very Harry Potter, and very Gryffindor.

"You make a good point," Loren pondered for a moment, "Here's what we'll do: you tell the others about this and discuss how to investigate Lockhart. I'll deal with Lockhart to prevent him from noticing and becoming wary of you, and also find opportunities to subtly probe him."

Loren pondered to himself that Dumbledore had hired Lockhart as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor with the intention of having the young wizards expose his true nature.

Harry's investigation of Lockhart aligns with Dumbledore's plan, and he will guide the investigation along with the investigation of the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. He will not participate in the specific actions; that is the mission of the savior, Harry Potter.

What was my task again?

Oh, let's test the eyesight of the awakened basilisk.

Loren silently cursed the white-bearded old man in his heart.

……

In the Transfiguration classroom.

Professor McGonagall was lecturing on the theories of the Animagus, and the audience was filled with members of the Transfiguration Club. Hermione's quill, which she was using to take notes, was so light it was almost blurry, attracting the astonished gazes of the young wizards around her.

"Animagus can't just turn into any animal. Can anyone tell me what factors determine the animal a wizard can transform into?" Professor McGonagall asked, her gaze sweeping over the group of young wizards.

Hermione held the quill pen in her hand and raised her hands high.

Professor McGonagall's gaze was drawn to her, then she looked past her and at the young wizard sitting next to her: "Mr. Morgan, you tell me."

Hermione's lips pursed, and she glared at Loren resentfully.

Feeling the little witch's gaze, Loren sighed and stood up helplessly: "It's related to the wizard's personality and weight, Professor McGonagall."

Stop calling on him. This is the third time he's been called on to answer questions this class. If you keep doing this, Hermione will get jealous.

"Absolutely right, but the club course doesn't add any points," Professor McGonagall laughed. "I'd personally give you 5 points in my head, though it won't make a difference."

"Hahahaha..." The young wizards burst into laughter; they absolutely adored Professor McGonagall's humor.

Aside from Granger, Hermione gritted her teeth, the ink from her quill pen seeping through the paper, muttering viciously, "Why don't I get Professor McGonagall's approval rating?!"

The bell rang, signaling the break between classes.

The young wizards gathered together to chat. Some were discussing what they had just learned in class, some were copying notes, and some of the older wizards were even dating.

"Nick has invited us to his 500th death anniversary celebration, which is on the eve of Halloween. It's said that ghosts from all over the world will come to the party. Are you coming?" Loren looked at the group of young wizards around him.

"Ghost Death Anniversary!"

"That's awesome!"

Seamus and Dean excitedly raised their hands, demonstrating their strong desire to participate.

"Why would anyone celebrate the day they died?" Ron asked, puzzled, but he also said he would go.

Neville hesitated, scratching his head and looking at them sheepishly. "I want to go... but I... I'm a little scared."

Simo and Dean each put their arms around his neck, saying, "Don't be afraid, we'll go together. There's nothing to be afraid of!"

"Okay then."

The group, laughing and joking, all expressed their intention to participate.

Turning his head, Loren saw the little witch still throwing a tantrum. He shook his shoulder and nudged her, then leaned close to her ear and asked, "So, are you going?"

"Go away!" Hermione turned her head away, not wanting to talk to him.

"Hehe, let me copy your notes after class."

"knew!"

"Remember to categorize and underline the key points; I only copy the most important part."

"You're so annoying!" Hermione snapped at him with a stern face, but her quill was honestly marking lines on the notebook.

Seeing the little witch's awkward expression, Loren was in a good mood and turned to join Harry and the others in their conversation.

Harry had just finished recounting the strange noises he heard in Lockhart's office and outlining his theories, hoping they would help investigate Lockhart.

"It must be him! There's no mistake!"

Seamus declared emphatically, "Hagrid's roosters were all killed with their necks snapped, and he thought it was the foxes in the Forbidden Forest. But nothing like this has happened in previous years; it just happened when Lockhart came to school. If you ask me, it must be an evil curse that needs blood as its ingredient!"

Neville suddenly widened his eyes and stammered, "Last...last Wednesday night, I changed into new clothes and forgot my password list in my room, so the Fat Lady locked me out. I...I saw a...a group of spiders crawling out of the castle in a line!"

Ron shuddered in horror at the mention of the spider and the image it conjured.

"That's right, Lockhart has only been at Hogwarts for a month, and all sorts of strange things have already happened. He must be an evil dark wizard!"

Seamus's eyes gleamed with excitement as he gestured wildly, eager to expose Lockhart's true colors.

In his first year, he missed the trolls, he missed Quirrell, and he certainly won't miss Lockhart this time.

He had already figured out how to brag to his friends' parents:

On the surface, Lockhart is a bestselling author and adventurer, but in reality, he is an evil dark wizard who infiltrates Hogwarts with ulterior motives.

Harry Potter, the boy who survived a terrible ordeal, along with his roommate Seamus and their friends, used their wit and courage to expose Lockhart's true colors and bring him to justice!

That's it! Seamus Finnegan will become a Gryffindor champion!

Dean looked at Seamus, who was laughing like a goose, with a puzzled expression, wondering whether he should take him to the school clinic so that Ms. Pomfrey could give his brain a thorough check-up.

The Transfiguration Club's classes and the activities of the lower-grade Charms Club were linked. As soon as Professor McGonagall announced the end of get out of class, the group rushed to the place to practice their spells.

Professor Flitwick would personally guide them in practicing spells, offering advice tailored to each individual's needs, so the younger wizards were very enthusiastic. When they arrived, the training ground, converted from a classroom, was already packed with people, and the group quickly went inside to find their spots.

In an inconspicuous corner of the training ground, the young Slytherin wizards gathered together, each practicing their spells.

Pale-faced Crabbe glared venomously at Harry and the others in the crowd. Suppressing his inner rage, he spoke as if to himself, his voice sharp as he looked to his empty right side and demanded, "Why? Didn't you say you could make me stronger? Why can't I pass the Transfiguration exam?"

He took the Transfiguration Club's entrance exam, but failed because his first-year foundational knowledge was too poor. After learning that the Transfiguration Club would teach Animagus material, all his jealousy turned into resentment towards Harry and his friends.

Even though he was alone, a chilling voice echoed in the air: "I have enhanced your magic and made you smarter, but you still need to learn the knowledge yourself."

Crabbe asked impatiently, "Is there any magic that can directly input knowledge into my brain?"

The black-scaled snake, curled up inside the clothes, flicked its tongue, its vertical pupils flashing with murderous intent.

This weakling dares to speak to the Dark Lord like that; even his father, Old Crabbe, wouldn't dare to be so disrespectful.

Anger and annoyance were not shown by Voldemort. He manipulated the snake's body and spoke: "Of course there are, but you will have to pay a trivial price."

……

The corridors of Hogwarts were always deserted at night, and this desolation was even more pronounced when a cold wind blew and rain fell outside. The hard-soled shoes echoed on the floor in the narrow passageway.

Pushing the switch to turn off the lights, the top cover popped open with a crisp sound, and a pleasant metallic vibration echoed in the empty corridor.

If we were to use a metal lighter as an analogy, the nozzle would be surrounded by several orbs of light of different colors. The most striking of these is a pale green glow, radiating an aura of danger.

Nearly a month has passed since Loren obtained the lampshade and its blueprints, but his progress in dismantling the alchemical array is pitifully slow. The lampshade is not only complex in its array design, but its internal mechanical structure is also extremely ingenious.

Dumbledore cleverly combined mechanical mechanisms and magic circles. When the switch is pushed forward, the internal latches will engage with the grooves in the upper part, and the magic circles on the latches will connect with the magic circles in the upper part to form a whole, creating a magic circle that collects light.

Pushing the switch backward causes the latch to engage with the groove at the rear, transforming the magic circle into a containment mechanism that seals the light source.

Feeling the deadly magic emanating from the basilisk's eyes, Loren couldn't help but ask Flamel, who was drifting beside him, again, "Can I really fight the basilisk now?"

Almost a month had passed since he last dealt with the basilisk, and he had fallen into Dumbledore's trap, needing to find a way to test the awakened basilisk's eyesight. Loren had no idea how to proceed, so he had to seek help from Flamel.

He had expected to get some roundabout solutions, but to his surprise, after Flamel listened to his explanation, he told him to go straight in and fight the basilisk head-on!

"As you said, the basilisk has been dormant for the past thousand years, only awakening once fifty years ago. It needs time to recover, for its blood to flow again, and for its stiff bones and muscles to relax. Besides, Albus helped you restrain the basilisk's most deadly gaze, so what is there to worry about?"

Flamel leisurely surveyed the interior of Hogwarts Castle. Because of his uniquely manifested body, he didn't have to worry about being discovered. "Compared to magical creatures that can't think, the greatest strength of wizards isn't just magic, but also their intellect."

If we refer to the dueling practice in the fantasy book, Loren's current strength is more than enough to deal with the weakened basilisk. However, there is an unfathomable boundary between reality and virtuality, and virtual battles can never replace real battles.

Not all battles are simulated, so Flamel did not use the Book of Fantasy to create virtual basilisks for him to practice on.

Loren gripped the briefcase he was carrying, which contained the things he had prepared to deal with the basilisk. The weight of it, reduced by the Unseen Stretching Charm, gave him a sense of security.

(End of this chapter)