Chapter 67 The Mischievous Brain Brain Matter
Senior Snape was a bit awkward, and who knew what had gotten into him. He wasn't bothering with his own work, wasn't even revising the manuscript that could "prove himself," and was instead spending all his time in the "Dueling Club," having completely taken over Lockhart's job.
Could it be that with the monster from the Chamber on the loose, he wanted to watch over these elite students in the school to prevent any accidents?
Sigh~
What could be done about it?
Lockhart could only respond with cheerful "Gak gak gak" laughter. Cool~
He simply stood aside and watched Snape show off, secretly learning alongside the young wizards. Sometimes he would sit at his desk, busily working on the manuscript for Where to Find Dark Creatures, and sometimes he would just leave the office for a while.
As for where he went…
Hehe, of course, it was the Chamber of Secrets in the castle, which all the young wizards were discussing mysteriously.
He planned to build a Chamber of Secrets scene in the magical item Caro's Bedtime Story Fairy Tale Book. Taking advantage of this current buzz, he wanted to elevate the young wizards' immersion in the "fairy tale adventure" to a higher level.
The Chamber of Secrets in the school didn't necessarily have to contain a Basilisk. What specific monster to put in this scene depended on the teaching progress of each year level.
He believed everyone would be very enthusiastic.
See, in terms of teaching, Professor Lockhart really put his heart into it.
Of course, the most important thing was to give the young wizards in the "Dueling Club" more experience in "team-based Basilisk raids," repeatedly raiding, repeatedly clearing the level, until they reached the point of speedrunning it.
Then, he would give Tom a little surprise.
This could be considered a small compensation for him exploiting Tom's wisdom.
Hahaha~
You're welcome!
Senior Snape had no idea that Lockhart was running off during class because he didn't want to stay up all night doing this. After hearing some annoying students (mainly Harry Potter) whispering behind his back that he had driven Lockhart away, he felt a bit guilty towards Lockhart.
But he just wouldn't change.
He had already taken over; why would he give it back?
Such a job as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was so interesting, why would he return it!
So, there was only one way to compensate.
"Done?"
Lockhart handed over the dew and Screechsnap he had collected with some surprise, thinking that the potion old Snape was brewing for him would take much longer.
He hadn't missed the cauldron next to them, bubbling with a eerie green froth like a seafood stew.
Snape didn't bother to explain. He opened the small bottle containing the dew and poured it into a portion of a cloudy solution that looked like beaten egg whites, stirring it. Finally, he added two drops to the cauldron emitting wisps of pink smoke, and then carefully peeled a small section of the Screechsnap stem with a sharp small knife and threw it in.
"Now it's done." He tidied up the lab bench, handing the egg-white solution mixed with dew and the Screechsnap back to Lockhart. "These are still enough to make over a dozen more portions. If you have the energy, you can have the Screechsnap continue to collect more calls."
He took out a parchment scroll from the side of the lab bench, untied the binding twine, spread it out, looked at it carefully, wrote a note beside a certain detail, then rolled it up again and handed it to Lockhart.
"These are the improved preparation steps for this potion. It's simple enough for even you to easily brew it successfully yourself. I think you'll still need it."
Seeing Lockhart eagerly reach for it, he held onto the scroll, his gaze fixed intently. "I don't know why you need this sinister thing, but it's necessary to repeat my words again, 'Magic is the expression of self-will. Lose yourself, and you will lose your magic!'"
"And I must solemnly remind you, do not use it more than twice within a year. Otherwise, even if the potion works perfectly and you don't lose yourself, it will bring extremely terrifying unknown consequences."
Lockhart nodded earnestly and solemnly. "Yes, I will definitely remember."
He was very grateful to Senior Snape. Having the memories of over a dozen powerful wizards in his mind, he knew all too well the price one had to pay in the wizarding society to find a potions master to help improve a potion and spend a lot of time and energy to make a finished product.
Everyone was an adult; it wasn't as simple as a school student asking a professor for help.
He could imagine that even if Lucius Malfoy, who had a good personal relationship with Snape, asked for this favor, the price and the debt of gratitude would definitely not be small.
All Lockhart could do was try his best to revise Senior Snape's manuscript well and operate it to the best of his ability as a return.
Carrying the simple Pensieve containing the potion back to his office, he began to ponder which wizard's wisdom he should digest using this precious potion.
Snape had really helped him a lot.
He now desperately wanted to possess relatively complete casting abilities.
But…
Whose memories to digest?
The first thing he thought of was the original Lockhart's memories. These were the most complete of all the memories; the others were just small fragments. This was the most complete "life of a wizard."
But he quickly dismissed this idea.
Two reasons.
Firstly, apart from his extraordinary skill with the Memory Charm, the original Lockhart's other magic was almost non-existent.
No, it should be described as terrible.
Even the most basic spell, Wingardium Leviosa, which even a zero-foundation young wizard could master well, the original Lockhart could mess up completely.
The second reason was that he already had an idea for digestion.
A better effect than this "Mischievous Brain Brain Matter" potion was the path of "entering fairy tale adventures, where magic naturally blooms." He could now master the Wingardium Leviosa spell very well, much better than the original Lockhart.
He was already working on this idea. The book Where to Find Dark Creatures was being prepared for this purpose.
So, whose memories to digest?
Lockhart fell into deep thought.
He quickly selected the memories of an old wizard, Dumbledore's old friend, a standard academic powerhouse who had also served as a Potions professor at Durmstrang Institute for a period.
Such memories would be enough for him to completely possess a complete and systematic magical casting ability.
But…
Was this really the most needed ability at his current stage?
Lockhart was extremely clear about one thing—the power of magic lies not in "strength" but in "mystery."
Dumbledore's old friend was undoubtedly the strongest among the dozen or so powerful wizards in his memories, without exception, but definitely not the most mysterious.
Using his abilities to play with Voldemort would truly be stepping into someone else's area of expertise.
If everyone knew what he could do, and everyone was better than him in every aspect, how could he play? Any small tricks would be so conspicuous in the eyes of the big shots, what was the point?
Following this line of thought, he quickly had an answer.
It was the so-called "most vigilant witch in the Magical Congress of the United States"—the Forest Witch.
These wizards who followed a spiritual path had always been like this. In a wizarding society where most wizards were academics, their magical abilities were full of unknown unpredictability, too difficult to fathom.
It was like the impact Newt had on MACUSA back then.
The Aurors of MACUSA could collectively cast Memory Charms on an entire street of people, but they had no way to modify the memories of an entire city. Leaving aside whether the task was heavy or if there would be omissions, just the short time frame made it impossible for the Aurors to accomplish.
But Newt could easily handle this by relying on some Venomous Tentacula secretions and having the Thunderbird cooperate with rainfall.
The Forest Witch was the same.
She was the kind of witch who could easily slip into the most heavily guarded archives of MACUSA and destroy her top-secret files without anyone noticing.
No matter how strict and powerful the protective magic, it was useless.
If it weren't for her fondness for the prosperity of human society, her unwillingness to return to the forest, which caused her magic to become less pure, leading to a few abrupt vines and flowers left in the archives, MACUSA wouldn't even have known she had been there at the time.
Of course, MACUSA regarded leaving traces as a provocation against them.
Lockhart finally made a complete decision.
He began to call on his little companions to help guard him.
The golden Snidget jumped onto Lockhart's shoulder, guarding against all possible dangers, as well as other magical creatures.
The vengeful fairy floated in mid-air, a pyre reappearing behind her. Blood turned into small streams flowing in the office's "small forest," and the trees regained their vitality. Vines sprouted from the seeds, slithering around like magical snakes.
The Occamy flew to the branches by the window, spreading its iridescent blue wings, guarding against possible interference from outside the window.
Good.
Lockhart expressed his gratitude to his little companions before taking out his wand and beginning to extract all memories related to the "Forest Witch" from his mind, pouring them into the simple Pensieve containing the potion before him.
The "Mischievous Brain Brain Matter" potion looked very strange. It wasn't clear as water; on the contrary, it looked a bit like a swollen paste.
Viscous, fluffy, and bouncy.
Well, it now looked like a large brain placed in a basin.
And it was still mischievously shaking gently. If Snape hadn't clearly described the potion's characteristics and asked Lockhart to prepare such a simple Pensieve to "contain" it, it would have even mischievously run out of the cauldron and around the room.
As the silver threads of the "Forest Witch's" memories sank into it, it even began to open and close its brain folds, singing a song.
"If you plan to eat me, Then you better add some honey and milk, That will make my taste more delicate. But mysterious wizard… You better be careful, Because your recklessness will make you completely lose yourself, You…"
Its song wasn't finished when it suddenly let out a sharp laugh, shaking frantically. "So itchy, so itchy!"
"!!!" Lockhart put down the spoon in his hand with a strange expression, really not knowing how to eat this outrageous thing.
This damn…
The bizarre existence of wizards, the act of devouring someone else's memories, was presented so graphically and so eerily before him.
He unfolded Senior Snape's scroll again, confirming the method of using this potion—swallow it with a silver spoon, please make sure not to leave any behind. (Hint: Unfinished potion will run around with memories, you don't want to see that scene!)
Glug glug~~
The sound of liquid flowing echoed in his ears.
Lockhart turned his head and saw large patches of blood seeping out from the wooden cracks in the ceiling, gathering and flowing down, dripping into a teacup on the nearby table.
Dozens of fanged mouths cracked open on the vengeful fairy, smiling at him. "You might need some water."
"Oh, thank you."
Lockhart held a cup of blood, a silver spoon in his other hand, and looked again at the mischievous brain in the Pensieve. He swallowed hard, secretly encouraging himself not to be defeated by this scene. He could overcome it.
"Ooooh ooooh~~" the mischievous brain began to wail strangely again. "It hurts, your spoon hurt me!"
"Shut up!" Lockhart finally couldn't help but curse.
The mischievous brain started to cry with a whimper. "You're bullying me, you're bullying me~~~"
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