Chapter 55: Screaming Snout and the Fairy Tale Book
Voldemort's curse on the Defence Against the Dark Arts professorship at Hogwarts was powerful.
So powerful that Dumbledore had been unable to do anything about it for so many years, so powerful that when Voldemort finally gathered strength in the forests of Albania and returned to Hogwarts, he was once again thwarted by this curse and reduced to his original weak state.
The Dark Lord himself couldn't deal with this curse.
Lockhart couldn't understand why this curse was so powerful. Perhaps it was cast at the most angry and painful moment of Voldemort's life?
Because Dumbledore refused to let him stay at Hogwarts, refused to let him follow the path Dumbledore had taken, refused to let him stay in the place that this orphan had completely adopted as his own home?
It didn't matter.
He only knew that there was a very subtle bug in this matter of Voldemort using this curse to try and kill him!
That was, Voldemort wanted to kill 'Gilderoy Lockhart'!
What does it have to do with me, Rohan? (his name from his previous life)
He actually didn't mind being called 'Gilderoy Lockhart'. A name was just a code; he had his own real life.
But that didn't mean that this 'Gilderoy Lockhart' was the original 'Gilderoy Lockhart'. He wasn't anyone else; he was just himself!
Lockhart understood dark magic too well, and he had a particularly clear understanding of how 'curses' worked.
Just like the 'Slug-Vomiting Charm' curse he had just analyzed and explained in detail to the fourth-year students, no matter how varied magic was, it still had some basic rules to follow.
Especially dark magic, it required immense malice.
This was the most fundamental reason why, even from an academic perspective in the modern wizarding magic system, dark magic had a trend of being completely excluded from normal wizarding teaching—malice needed to be directional.
You had to be full of malice towards a specific object, a specific person, or a specific thing.
'Directionality' was advantageous in low-level combat, as it could solidify a wizard's purpose in battle, but it became a great disadvantage in the realm of high-level spellcasting.
To put it more bluntly, spellcasting with 'strong directionality' was rather low-level!
Take, for example, one of the Safe House magic series, the 'Fidelius Charm'. This magic, which could protect a house from being spied on or detected, had an effect on everyone in the world. It could even work on someone completely unrelated on the other side of the earth.
Thus, 'Defence Against the Dark Arts', one of the three major areas, had a very in-depth academic branch—targeting 'directionality'.
Among the spells Dumbledore had just tried to cast on Lockhart, there was a 'powerful Confundus Charm', which was trying to find a solution from this angle.
The Killing Curse? The Cruciatus Curse? When the target was confused, the real malice directed at oneself disappeared, and at most, it would only have a slightly stinging effect.
Of course, in real combat situations, facing extremely dangerous Unforgivable Curses, one would generally not risk using such a method. But for some less dangerous curses, like the Slug-Vomiting Charm, those who understood this method found it to be unfailingly effective, even better than Finite Incantatem.
This was Lockhart's line of thought for self-preservation.
His own situation was the greatest kind of confusion.
But such an attempt was still dangerous, like casting a Confundus Charm on oneself when facing an unavoidable Killing Curse attack, a desperate gamble.
That was why he had said, "Isn't it sometimes like this, we must bravely face death to gain the hope of living?"
If this curse was so powerful that it had to kill me, then let me die once in the identity of 'Gilderoy Lockhart'.
And then, I will return as a brand new 'Gilderoy Lockhart'.
A very dangerous attempt.
He didn't have a hundred percent certainty of success, but he had the courage to face death.
Because his desire for life was so intense!
Go!
Embark on the journey of life and death!
Dumbledore took off his ring, took out a pot of Screaming Snout and some dew from it, lightly tapped them with the Elder Wand to examine them, gaining some understanding of these two items Lockhart needed.
The Screaming Snout stems, filled with various sounds of people calling Lockhart, and the dew, representing the transition from a social person to an individual self—these two objects were full of anchors to Lockhart's own existence.
Under Lockhart's guidance, he began to try to control the fairy tale book, "Caro's Bedtime Story Fairy Tale Book," flipping to the last chapter story, "I Am Glory," opening it on the ground, waving his wand, and reciting the secret words to make it take effect.
"The Caro family has guarded the interests of wizards for generations!"
These secret words had established the glory of the Caro family, witnessed the glory of the Caro family, and in the end, became the epitaph of the Caro family's final decline.
Because they did not consider wizards from Muggle families to be wizards.
Dumbledore looked with a troubled mind at Lockhart, who had already begun to show signs of partial ghostliness, watching him take difficult steps towards the fairy tale book, his body shrinking little by little, until he finally waved at Dumbledore and completely stepped into the open pages of the book.
He sighed, his anger towards Tom growing stronger.
Then he couldn't help but recall the Horcruxes Lockhart had just mentioned—five objects and one person...
He didn't know how Lockhart knew Tom's secret, but from the fact that Tom, despite his extreme weakness, still tried to activate the curse attached to the professorship, he knew that Lockhart was probably not wrong.
Slytherin's locket...
Hufflepuff's cup...
Ravenclaw's diadem...
The diary from his student days...
The Gaunt family ring...
When these things were listed together, they were so conspicuous in the eyes of a magic master like him.
Bloodline, self, belonging—Tom really regarded Hogwarts as his home. He himself had brought Tom from the orphanage to Hogwarts, and perhaps Tom had completely regarded Hogwarts as his home ever since.
Such a strong sense of belonging inevitably led to this tendency in his consideration of making Horcruxes, choosing legendary items from each house, choosing to slaughter his own Muggle relatives to achieve the most thorough severance...
Thus, Dumbledore could clearly see where Tom's fatal weakness lay.
It was that Tom had completely tied Hogwarts to his sense of belonging, and there was a gap in his heart—he was still yearning for and acknowledging his mother's love for him.
Why Lily's magic was so effective against Tom back then was clearly not because the powerful love she had for Harry erupted into an incredibly strong magical force. Of course, it was strong, but not to the extent of killing Tom, who was at his peak and arguably the strongest wizard of the time.
It just happened to target Tom's fatal weakness.
The power of love magic was too general. What had worked at that time should have been the power of motherly love.
Humans are sometimes like this; the more they care, the easier they are to hurt.
Then, let's start with this point!
—Although thinking this way was very vicious and immoral, since they had completely become enemies, there was no room for any softness of heart.
Dumbledore had to admit one thing: in regarding Hogwarts as his home and his belonging, perhaps Tom's feelings for the school were even stronger than his and Minerva's, to the point of making it the very foundation of his magic.
Magic is sometimes like this.
It cannot be too extreme. Although extreme power can erupt, it also reveals the most obvious weaknesses.
The principles of being a person are sometimes the same.
Clearly, the curse attached to the Defence Against the Dark Arts professorship at Hogwarts should be related to these things. Even if it wasn't directly related to these Horcruxes, there would be some connection in the dark.
No wonder it had always been difficult to deal with.
Perhaps, after clearing out these Horcruxes, this curse would also completely dissipate.
Dumbledore stroked the Elder Wand in his hand, his gaze under his half-moon spectacles as deep as water.
...
The fairy tale book.
Morning, the sun was shining brightly.
"Sweetheart~"
"Sweetheart, wake up~"
"It's time for lunch~"
In a series of gentle calls, Lockhart slowly opened his eyes and saw a middle-aged woman with a kind smile.
He looked at the plate in her hand and the rich food on it, feeling somewhat unhappy. "Mom, you don't have to do this. I'll go out to eat."
"Oh, my little sweetheart, Mommy likes doing this." The middle-aged woman placed the plate on the table beside the bed, patiently tidying up the somewhat scattered holiday homework from his magic school, looking very happy at the beautiful and flowing handwriting on the parchment.
"Mom!" Lockhart's voice rose a lot. "Can you please stop doing this in the future? Bringing food to my room specially. The sisters will be unhappy. You can't treat us differently like this."
The middle-aged woman snorted, holding the homework in her arms, looking very proud. "How can that be the same? They are Muggles, but you are a wizard!"
Lockhart looked at his mother's appearance, sighed, and sat up from the bed. "But we are family. We need to consider everyone's feelings. Dad will be unhappy too!"
"Oh, no!"
The middle-aged woman snorted. "My little sweetheart, you are a wizard, a wonderful wizard. You are the glory of our family, you are my glory!"
"My child, you won't understand Mommy's feelings. I am so happy that the wizarding bloodline has finally continued. Your two sisters are not wizards. You don't know how desperate I was back then."
"Oh, my little sweetheart, you are so excellent, so proud-making."
She looked at Lockhart so earnestly, as if she had placed her entire life and aspirations on this child. "Will you be an excellent wizard? Will you become Mommy's glory?"
A dark look flashed in Lockhart's eyes, and he secretly clenched his fists under the blanket.
He knew that he wasn't actually that excellent. He struggled a lot in his magic school studies. He was even almost becoming one of the unremarkable masses.
How wonderful it would have been if he had lived in the Muggle world. Maybe he could have become a famous travel magazine columnist like his father, or become a lawyer and then go into politics?
But in the wizarding world, he could hardly see a future.
He was very confused, not knowing where he would go after graduating in a few years.
Excellent? Glory? These didn't seem like they would become his bywords.
But even so...
He still showed his standard perfect smile, meeting his mother's expectant gaze, and nodded earnestly. "Yes, Mom, I will become your glory! I won't let you down!"
"Oh~ my little sweetheart~" The middle-aged woman was extremely happy, gently arranging the homework neatly, patting it lightly as if comforting a baby, before turning and leaving the room.
As the door closed, the smile on Lockhart's face visibly collapsed.
He rubbed his face vigorously, got out of bed somewhat heavily, and began rummaging through the closet for suitable clothes for today.
He had to dress properly, even with great taste, otherwise his mother would be disappointed.
Just...
When he came to the floor-length mirror with his clothes, ready to tidy his hair, he looked in horror at the unfamiliar face in the mirror, feeling his hair stand on end. "Who are you?!!!"
But the him in the mirror sighed, muttering, "Still not delicate enough in the operation...", then pulled out his wand, pressed it against his head, and quickly cast a spell—"Obliviate!"
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