great-warnovel Chapter 121 The Spirit Cat and an Interlude
Chapter 121 The Spirit Cat and an Interlude
Chapter 121 The Spirit Cat and an Interlude
The Quidditch incident didn't cause much of a stir, but Draco's relentless efforts actually earned him some positive feedback. The Slytherin students started to be less hostile towards him, at least not deliberately keeping their distance from him during meals.
Lockhart's minor mistake did not damage his reputation; he remained the most popular professor among students.
Of course, the main reason might be that the second field trip is coming after Halloween, so instead of dwelling on that little mistake, we should focus on what the professor will take us to see this time.
Second-year students were still the first to start class. This time, Hermione and the others followed Lockhart as they approached the territory of a pack of civets.
"These fascinating elves, once belonging to the French Ministry of Magic, perfectly fulfilled their protective duties." Lockhart smiled as he petted a large black cat, whose slender body struggled desperately, but could not escape the professor's clutches.
In this small mountain forest, a large number of civets live, some walking and some lying down. Perhaps it is because of the relatively mild climate that the civets chose this place as their territory.
"After Paris was burned down and the French Ministry of Magic fled and disbanded, the civets were left unattended and ended up in the wild. However, unlike the swallowtail wolf, the civet is essentially an extremely docile animal. When not attacked, they are almost no different from ordinary domestic cats."
"But they have a very strong sense of malice. When a malicious person approaches, they become fierce and aggressive. In addition, they split when attacked, so few people dare to provoke them."
"In some regions, wizards will adopt a civet cat in their homes. These cats are more accurate and sensitive than a spyglass and will not scream wildly for small lies."
"Of course, you'll learn all of this in your third-year Aberration Beast class," Lockhart said with a smile, looking much better.
"As a teaching objective of this defense course, the reason I brought you here today is to train your ability to control your emotions."
"We all know that there are too many spells that can pry into your mind, such as the Imperius Curse, Legilimency Curse, Memory Curse, and Confusion Curse. These can all have more or less negative effects on your brain."
"There are also a wide variety of items or creatures such as spyglasses, civets, and biphasic monsters. In front of them, your brains seem to be completely undefended, allowing anyone to enter and exit."
"And the best way to deal with them is without exception Occlumency, an extremely difficult spell."
Lockhart scratched his chin somewhat embarrassedly: "Of course, my Occlumency isn't very good either; I can only barely guarantee that I won't be easily controlled by someone using the Imperius Curse."
"But I think every wizard needs to practice this to some extent. It can protect you and your family. People who are controlled are capable of anything."
"Professor, we can seal the helmet with our brains!" a clever child raised his hand and said.
Hermione remembered this prop; Professor McGonagall had mentioned it when she brought her to Hogwarts on her first night in this world.
It is a set of equipment to combat the three former Unforgivable Curses. The other two are the Death Vest to resist the Death Curse and the Magic Nerve Suppressor to resist the Cruciatus Curse.
Lockhart exclaimed in exaggerated surprise, "My God, kid, do you know how heavy that thing is! A whole 10-pound iron lump on your head, I don't believe you can wear it all day!"
"Also, the price of the Brain Lock Helmet is quite impressive. As Beauxbatons' star product, it was once sold for the same price as a house-elf. I don't think the adults in your Malfoyburg home would let you play with it so easily, would they?" Clearly, the child who raised his hand was a Slytherin.
Lockhart then turned to everyone and said, "So even if it's just to save your parents some money, I think some training in Occlumency is quite necessary."
"Even if we're only in our second year?" Some students expressed their fear of difficulty, as everyone knows how challenging the Occupational Surgery procedure is.
"Even if you're only in your second year," Lockhart affirmed.
"Of course, I won't make excessive demands on you." His smile remained very friendly.
"Otherwise, I wouldn't have just brought you to see the civets. These little guys are very sensitive to malice, but they don't have much initiative, so you don't have to worry about your privacy being invaded or bad things getting into your heads."
"My task for you is to mark each of the civets." He pulled out a box of white chalk.
"As we all know, the population of civets has always been a difficult problem to count. They often split into many groups due to bumps or injuries of varying degrees, which is a major headache for conservationists of magical creatures."
"These chalks are enchanted; they're very difficult to wash off. What you need to do is control your emotions as much as possible and mark every spirit cat you see. They can only allow wizards to approach if they don't feel threatened. But remember, you must not use magic to forcibly control them, as that will cause them to split apart!"
Lockhart clasped his hands together and said to everyone, "I'm begging you, please don't create a mess like the explosion of thousands of civets, okay? I'll be torn to pieces by Professor McGonagall."
The students burst into laughter. The task sounded easy and quite fun, incorporating teaching into a cat-catching game, which was very educational and entertaining.
Soon, everyone dispersed, each searching for lone cats in the forest. In the dim light, these black sprites were quite difficult to spot, and the students had to constantly remember to control their emotions. Too strong a desire to "catch the cat" would be seen as a threat, which, while not causing them to split, would make them run away quickly.
Hermione, relying on her powerful soul, skillfully focused her thoughts. She walked straight to the spirit cats, grabbed them by the scruff of their necks, and marked them. The spirit cats offered no resistance whatsoever.
This made Harry think it would be easy, but he was too clumsy. The civets would always run away quickly before he could get close, and some would even bare their teeth at him.
Neville, on the other hand, who usually looks like a goofy little chubby guy, is second only to Hermione in being able to approach a civet cat at will. His superb concentration also earned Lockhart two more points for Gryffindor.
Draco, however, had no interest in the cat, even though it might earn him points; he had more important things to do today.
He walked absentmindedly through the woods, deliberately choosing directions away from the other students; he needed to find a suitable spot.
He met with Dobby for the second time.
What he didn't know was that not long after he left the crowd, two unexpected people came to the teaching site.
"Professor McGonagall? What brings you here? And this gentleman too?"
Lockhart looked in surprise at the two people falling from the sky—or rather, two people.
Professor McGonagall rode a broomstick, her face serious, while beside her was a rather tall woman riding an equally enormous winged horse. As she landed, she created gusts of wind that startled the surrounding pixies away.
"I'm sorry, Gilderoy, but I think you need to finish this class quickly," McGonagall said in a deep voice.
"This is Madam Maxim, the headmistress of Beauxbatons. She learned that Hogwarts was nearby and originally planned to come and visit, but then two students suddenly disappeared."
Hermione was shocked. Hogwarts was currently in the south of France, near the Pyrenees, which was Beauxbatons' location. And their students had disappeared right on their doorstep!?
"Our professors discovered traces of the basilisk in the vicinity during their search, which I think is not good news." Mrs. Maxim's lips were pressed into a thin line, clearly indicating that she was in a very bad mood.
She was sparkly, wearing a shawl made entirely of metallic sequins that shimmered.
"Merlin, those sequins, every single one of them is a work of alchemy," Harry exclaimed softly.
"Is the headmaster of Beauxbatons that rich?"
"They practically monopolize the market for alchemical products, so it's only natural that they're rich, right?" Ron said with a hint of envy.
"They exploit students severely, treating them like little elves."
"However, Beauxbatons is known for its rigorous academic standards and strict rules. If those two kids hadn't gotten into trouble, they would have faced the risk of being expelled," Harry whispered to Hermione.
"But I'm afraid we can't continue the class. If there are basilisks around here, we'd better get back to the castle as soon as possible," Neville said with concern.
"Besides Voldemort, is there anyone else who breeds Basilisks? I finally managed to master the skill of controlling my emotions!" Ron complained.
Hermione thought of Voldemort's thousand-year-old basilisk. Could it be that one?