great-warnovel Chapter 111 Birthday Gift
Chapter 111 Birthday Gift
Chapter 111 Birthday Gift
At night, Hermione nestled in the single sofa in the Room of Requirement, engrossed in Lockhart's practical combat insights.
Harry and Ron continued watching the unfinished duel.
Ever since his narrow defeat to Ron during the day, he had become obsessed with the Ironclad Spell. In his opinion, Ron's magic shield was something he had only recently learned, and even with the support of the Round Shield Wand, it was impossible for him to withstand his attacks for long.
He insisted that Ron's victory was merely a fluke, a moment of carelessness and a failure to dodge, and that as long as he remained vigilant, breaking through that turtle shell was only a matter of time.
Ron, on the other hand, was triumphant, declaring that no matter how fierce Harry's Chains were, they would be utterly defeated by his absolute defense!
After their practical training session ended, the two of them practiced in the Room of Requirement, except for meals. They changed the layout of the room, setting up a large dueling area in the middle, and had the Pokémon bring them a lot of food, preparing for a final battle.
Hermione was worried that they might accidentally hurt each other in the heat of the moment, so she pulled Neville aside to watch the fight and finish reading her new book.
The two players on the field were engaged in a battle of wits. One side kept looking for opportunities to probe Ron's defensive weaknesses, while the other side tried every means to block Harry's incredibly powerful hammer blows and launch counterattacks from time to time.
Neville sat nearby, seemingly also searching for a way to break through Ron's turtle shell, but his scabbard wand was not as powerful as Harry's Chaingatha, and its magical weapon was not as exaggerated. He was still some distance away from breaking through Ron's defenses by brute force.
Hermione only paid a small portion of her attention to them, focusing more on deciphering Lockhart's notes. This notebook contained many of his own frequently used spell tricks, as well as spell variations, grammatical tricks, and how to mislead the enemy's judgment of your spells.
The most interesting aspect is the use of the Forgetting Charm and the Confusion Charm. Lockhart seems to have a high talent in the field of memory magic. He shortened the length of the Forgetting Charm and simplified the complexity of the gestures, making this obscure spell easy to use in battle.
Ordinary wizards' forgetting and confusion spells are generally only used against Muggles, making them forget things or ignore certain things. However, in the confrontation with wizards, due to their strong determination and magic, the spells are usually not very effective, and even if they take effect on the spot, they will quickly recover afterward.
Only a few powerful wizards would use this magic to control others.
Lockhart, on the other hand, takes a different approach. In battle, he uses short spells and concealed gestures to unleash a weakened version of the Ephemeral Realm, which can make opponents forget the magic they are about to cast, or suddenly become disoriented and mistake their comrades for enemies.
Although the effect is only momentary, combined with Lockhart's fighting style, which is adept at surprise attacks and close combat, it will make the enemy flustered and completely unable to cope with his tidal wave of attacks.
During her duel with Hermione, it was these kinds of spells that made her feel dizzy and had a headache, but Hermione was too vigilant. When faced with Lockhart's spells, she would cover any that she didn't recognize with full force, and any that slipped through would have no effect at all.
Moreover, most of her brilliance spells are unlike ordinary spells, which have fixed hand gestures and incantations. Lockhart cannot accurately judge her casting rhythm and therefore cannot interrupt her effectively.
She was surrounded by a dense aura of sapphire magic, which was more volatile and exclusive than normal magic. Even if she were hit by the Oblivion Curse, this weaker version would hardly have any effect on Hermione.
Hermione was still terrified. She hadn't realized the extent of wizards' mastery in the mental realm. The magic of the Borderlands mostly focused on practical power and was quite weak in areas like mental manipulation, except for the charm and sleep magic of the Torina series.
Few factions are involved in these.
And the wizards of this world happen to be experts in this field, with the Imperius Curse, one of the three unforgivable curses, being a prime example.
She told herself that she should not underestimate the wizards of this world. Their spells covered a wider range and they were almost omnipotent. Although Lockhart was defeated by her, that did not prove that he was weak.
On the contrary, if Lockhart were thrown onto the battlefield, he would be the most terrifying dagger.
With his skillful Apparitions penetrating deep behind enemy lines, his wide-ranging Confusion and Oblivion spells are enough to disrupt the rear of any enemy. Coupled with his powerful close-combat abilities and a bottle of Polyjuice Potion, it's likely that no leader could defend against his assassination attempt.
However, his problems are equally obvious. As Hermione had previously judged, Lockhart lacks powerful offensive methods. He is better at fighting against people, but he becomes weak and powerless when facing large fortresses or monsters.
However, with the great bow that Hermione gave him, Loretta's only weakness will be compensated, and Lockhart will become even more troublesome in the future.
She also learned a lot from Lockhart's insights. Not to mention anything else, her application of the Forgetfulness Charm and Confusion Charm alone was far superior to what was taught in school. Even the Weasley twins and Percy's textbooks only scratched the surface when it came to these two spells. Hogwarts obviously wouldn't teach students how to tamper with other people's memories; these spells were only taught at an introductory level.
Hermione rubbed her eyes and put down her book. It was almost midnight. Only in the Room of Requirement could she stay up all night openly. Hogwarts had a curfew starting at 9 p.m., which was really inhumane.
Turning to look at the three boys, Harry and Ron were exhausted from fighting and were now lying on the ground resting without any regard for their image, while Neville seemed absent-minded, lost in thought.
Suddenly, with a "snap," a little elf appeared in the house carrying a huge cake.
"Which little wizard ordered the birthday cake?"
Harry jumped up abruptly: "Hey Kiki! Didn't I tell you to just quietly put the cake down?! Now there's no surprise at all!"
Ron and Neville also held their heads in frustration, all their long-planned schemes in vain.
The little elf was taken aback: "I'm not Kiki. Kiki went to deal with the leftovers from those eight-eyed spiders. I'm here to deliver the cake for him."
"Oh, Merlin's beard, this is really bad luck, all you elves look pretty much the same," Ron complained.
Hermione watched them with amusement. The cake wasn't very well made. Although the elves had done their best, the ingredients limited their creativity.
The pink cake had only a thin layer of cream on it, with "Happy Birthday Hermione" written crookedly on it, clearly prepared for her.
As the clock struck midnight, it was already September 19th, and she had forgotten her birthday once again.
"Well, it's done now, Hermione. Happy birthday," Harry said helplessly, as the three of them pulled out the prepared gifts from behind their backs.
There wasn't anything particularly valuable: a handwritten greeting card, some candy, and a woolen hat with terrible stitching.
"The three of us knitted this together. It's a bit ugly, but it's very warm." Harry blushed slightly, which was uncommon for him.
Hermione was pleasantly surprised and immediately put on the hat.
It's clear that the hat has two dividing lines, indicating that it was made by three people each knitting a part and then piecing it together.
The fact that this hat can bring together three different styles of scribbling makes it truly unique.
"Thank you, I like it very much." Hermione smiled and touched it, then popped one of the candies they gave her into her mouth.
"You've taught us magic for so long, I think we should be the ones thanking you," Neville said sincerely.
"Let's not talk about that anymore. Next, we need to figure out how to finish this big cake before we go to sleep. Wasting food isn't a good habit!"