Chapter 227: Heading to the Magical World
If you were to ask what field of magic still retains the mysterious, ominous, and bizarre characteristics of ancient wizards, it would definitely be witchcraft rituals. It is a method, not a category.
In the modern magical system, witchcraft rituals still exist widely in various specialized fields.
Lockhart's most familiar one is naturally 'Animagus.' This advanced form of Transfiguration is essentially no different from the curse that turns 'a prince into a frog.' The only difference is that one is active and the other is passive.
From witchcraft to magic, the methods of the wizarding world have been continuously developed and upgraded. Some people who worship ancient witchcraft think that the older it is, the more powerful it is. That's only because modern magic schools don't specifically teach how to break outdated versions of witchcraft, and they themselves don't bother to read books.
The field of Defense Against the Dark Arts is the same.
When wizards categorize these strange things that seem to belong to different disciplines and sort out their rules and characteristics, the methods of dealing with them become clear.
This kind of academic creation has an unimaginable advantage over ancient wizards: Dark Arts experts can grasp the methods of dealing with them through their characteristics, even if they encounter Dark Creatures and Dark Arts they have never seen before.
"The so-called Evil God sacrifice cannot be understood with the stereotypical image of ancient wizards shouting around a bonfire in a tribe..."
"Individual desires guide the flow of magic, and a magical effect bursts forth. When countless individuals have a common desire or resonate on a certain level or angle, the power of magic converges..."
"This is the understanding of 'ritual' in the academic field of witchcraft in the modern magical system."
"This concept exists in many areas, such as group spellcasting."
"In the field of Dark Arts dueling, the most common thing we see is a group of people simultaneously casting Finite Incantatem to control a spell that exceeds the strength of a normal individual, or to defend or attack."
"And its branch, the 'Evil God sacrifice,' is a form of collective spellcasting that leans towards darkness, distortion, repression, excessive desire, and other emotions that contain both hope and repression."
"Therefore, based on these characteristics..."
While waiting for the French Ministry of Magic to retrieve and investigate the files, Lockhart simply started giving a lecture to his two apprentices, not caring that the surrounding Ministry Aurors, experts, and officials were also listening.
Since he arrived, he had become a school professor and a best-selling author, and he had already developed the habit of spreading knowledge.
Unfortunately, magic is essentially a power that fits the mind and life activities. If you understand it but don't put it into practice, then you have only heard it. Spreading knowledge is not that easy.
He did hope that more wizards would become more powerful, so that the magical world would be more interesting.
A Dark Creature research expert from the French Ministry of Magic listened and then shouted, "Oh, Professor Lockhart, you should have said this earlier!"
Lockhart looked at him in surprise. "What's wrong?"
The expert's expression was strange. "I'm quite sure that those who are going to go through the files later will tell you that there was no Evil God sacrifice, because their understanding of an Evil God sacrifice is the stereotype you just mentioned."
Sure enough.
The French Ministry of Magic soon sent back that message.
At the expert's persuasion, the Minister of Magic went back himself and brought back a large number of files with the Aurors. The files were piled up like a mountain.
Dumbledore didn't stay there for too long. He was always so busy, and he rushed off to another place.
Lockhart began to direct everyone to sort through the files, asking them to organize all the information related to the elevator, regardless of whether they thought the information was useful.
It was very interesting.
The company in the files was not a subversive organization as Lockhart had imagined. It was truly just a special program provided by certain 'benevolent' Muggle groups for Muggle-born wizard families. That was it. There were no demands for these Muggle-born wizards and their relatives to do anything.
There was too little information, and Lockhart made no judgments. He simply kept examining the gathered information to find the conditions that might have triggered the Dark Arts incident.
"Found it!"
Lockhart found the key in a memo from a Ministry of Magic Auror's review of a Muggle-born wizard's diary.
- One time the company was going through a business challenge, and the adults were very busy. The company specifically hired a driver to take us kids to school.
- Everyone's journey was different. Some went to the train station, some to the dock, and some needed to transfer by plane...
- This later became a custom. The adults would always encourage us in the elevator, sending us downstairs to get into the car.
- The elevator carried our every reunion and every separation...
- Later, everyone said that the elevator was the dividing point from the Muggle world to the wizarding world...
Lockhart looked at these entries with sharp eyes and arranged for some people to search for other information. Slowly, more and more information was put in front of them.
The help this company brought to its employees was not just about taking care of the children.
They also held training classes for the employees, teaching them about wizarding life. They claimed it was to bridge the gap between family members' living environments. For example, what to feed messenger owls, what taboos there were, and so on.
"This company is surprisingly not bad?" Lockhart's expression became strange.
The Minister of Magic, Lucas Lorraine, the middle-aged wizard sitting beside him, shook his head with a troubled expression. "We're not sure if this is in compliance with the International Statute of Secrecy. In the end, Dumbledore made a provisional decision, believing that the funding from Muggles should not be unrestricted, and ultimately decided to shut it down."
He was clearly not happy with this decision. After all, too many people benefited from this company, and the price of shutting it down was that these affected wizards would become hostile to the French Ministry of Magic. Even if he vaguely mentioned in the newspaper that this was a resolution of the International Confederation of Wizards, and that they should blame Dumbledore, it was completely useless. Especially the violent law enforcement by the Aurors, which pointed the finger at them and at him, the Minister of Magic.
Minister Lorraine clearly didn't want to discuss this topic too much with an expert professor, so he put on a curious expression and changed the subject, gesturing to the files. "Can you figure out anything from this?"
Lockhart nodded, quickly flipping through the files, and finally pulled one out, motioning for the minister to look at one of the lines.
"Here, in order to let the employees better understand the workings of wizarding society, the company explained the concept of blood purity from a neutral perspective, which made many employees think that they might also have wizarding blood, and that they might just be Squibs."
Minister Lorraine denied this view. "Impossible. They are not Squibs. Muggles are Muggles. They can't see Dementors or many magical creatures and creations. This is the most basic knowledge!"
"In fact, in the academic field, there has never been an answer to this question," Lockhart reminded him with a smile.
"Huh?" Minister Lorraine looked a little bewildered.
"How Muggle-born wizards appear has always been a huge academic gap in blood purity theory, and there is still no clear answer."
Lockhart didn't want to get into a long-winded discussion about magical theory with this obvious politician. It would be like talking to a brick wall. He simply stood up with a smile.
"Wizards suppressing their magic and trying their best to hide their identity give birth to Obscurials."
"Many people overlook the factor of the times in this subject, that is, why was it so easy for Obscurials to appear only a few decades ago, and now, even if some young wizards suppress their magic, it is very difficult for them to become Obscurials."
Lockhart spoke to his two apprentices. "Collective spiritual resonance and this kind of ritual might be the answer."
"Conversely, what kind of Dark Creature would appear in this era, which is trying so hard to resonate with magic?"
No one could answer this question. Even many of the Dark Creature experts present didn't understand how such a question could be formed.
But unfortunately, Professor Lockhart seemed to have found the answer. He stopped discussing the issue with them and took his two apprentices back to the elevator.
"Simply put, this is a 'World Gate'."
"The passage between the two worlds, where Muggles' contact with the magical world ends here, and where wizards' return to Muggle society and departure from magic also ends here."
He smiled at his two students. "What similar spells can you think of?"
Crabbe raised his hand excitedly. "Magical rabbit holes!"
Percy answered next. "The Floo Network fireplaces!"
"Both answers are correct!"
Lockhart turned to the people from the French Ministry of Magic. "Who has Floo Powder?"
Aurors are required to have Floo Powder in their standard kit, just in case they need to use a Floo Network fireplace in an emergency but don't have the materials, thus missing the opportunity.
Minister Lorraine immediately looked at the Aurors. One of the eager Aurors quickly stepped forward and took a bag out of his trench coat. "I have some."
Ding~
The elevator door opened.
Lockhart didn't take the bag. He simply motioned for the Auror to sprinkle the Floo Powder directly into the elevator. "Just use it the way you normally would."
The Auror took a small handful of Floo Powder and looked at the elevator nervously. Seeing that the Minister of Magic didn't say anything, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask, "You need a very specific destination."
Lockhart rubbed his chin and raised an eyebrow. "Just say, 'to the Magical World!'"
"???"
The Auror looked bewildered. Finally, with everyone waiting and watching him, he swallowed hard, stepped into the elevator, sprinkled the Floo Powder, and shouted, "To the Magical World!"
Boom!
Green flames soared.
Everyone was stunned, looking at this familiar scene in disbelief. Minister Lorraine even shrieked in a high-pitched voice, "This is an illegal Floo Network? Unmonitored by the Ministry of Magic! Created by Muggles! A Floo Network fireplace?!!"
Lockhart shrugged. "All I can say is, it can be used
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