Chapter 39: Forest Spirit Messenger
Unknowingly, Lockhart walked deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
Given his usual meticulous self-discipline in details, he wouldn't have done this, as it might 'trigger' unexpected events.
But the forest felt too good to him.
It was a sense of freedom as if returning home.
He knew that the 'Forest Witch's' memories were influencing him, but he didn't resist.
The battle he had just experienced seemed to make him better understand the meaning of what the original Lockhart called 'entering a fairy tale, gaining magic,' and he was willing to try stepping into the Forest Witch's fairy tale life as well.
To taste the 'joy of the fish' in another life.
The ecology of the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, this primeval forest, was very well protected. Even though it housed a centaur tribe and Hagrid had several enclosures and released many other magical creatures into the forest.
It possessed its own unique and vigorous vitality.
Walking within it, one could feel the unique clamor of the plant kingdom and nocturnal animals.
Squatting on a tree trunk, watching a venomous snake quietly approach a bird's nest, bypassing a group of ants and the pursuit of an anteater, listening to the dopey Augureys on the treetops suddenly waking up from their sleep one after another, hiccuping in succession...
He seemed to feel a kind of magic that wasn't magic.
Very special.
It wasn't the standardized magic with standard spells and casting gestures, but a very wonderful, fantastical power.
This was the most chaotic and primal state of magic.
In essence, it possessed endless abilities.
In the original story, before Harry Potter entered the magic school, he could easily fly to the roof with it, could make a badly cut hairstyle grow back to its original state, could turn a teacher's wig blue, could make the large glass in the zoo disappear...
These abilities all completely disappeared after his magic was disciplined.
This was the biggest difference between the academic school and folk wizards. The former revered the ladder of knowledge, losing some spirituality in exchange for the ability to explore deeper realms, while the latter were full of spirituality and infinitely changeable, but their exploration in deeper realms all depended on talent and the extremely good luck of serendipity.
Strictly speaking, Newt Scamander, the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and the Weasley twins were typical examples of folk wizards. Magic became full of spirituality and wonder in their hands, but it was difficult for them to reach the level of Dumbledore.
Things like inventing and breeding the Basilisk, and creating Vanishing Cabinets and Time-Turners, were difficult to achieve solely through spirituality.
That was why the academic school became the mainstream of wizards.
The big shots who controlled the direction of the wizarding world weren't fools; they knew what kind of path could drive the wizarding world forward.
However, Lockhart didn't need to worry about the path ahead.
It was so difficult for him to even cast spells properly now; he would use whatever method worked.
His attitude towards magic was very relaxed; enjoying the fun it brought was all that mattered.
Yearning, but not demanding.
Full of anticipation, but not rushing around frantically.
He walked lightly through the forest, carefully feeling the wonder of the magic's flow.
It didn't seem to have much great use, at least it certainly wasn't useful for improving combat power, but it was so interesting and so much fun.
Lockhart constantly verified it with the memory scenes of the Forest Witch in his mind.
In this way, little by little, he absorbed the Forest Witch's magical insights into his own, walking clumsily along this path, stumbling, but enjoying it immensely.
Perhaps he inherently knew how to be a wizard.
He felt that this state was excellent.
He didn't know how long he had walked, but Lockhart encountered a rabbit.
This should be a magical creature. It looked no different from an ordinary gray hare, except for a tuft of fluffy long whiskers on its chin.
This gave it the air of an old scholar; it would look even more like one if it wore reading glasses and a beret.
The rabbit didn't run away like ordinary hares do when they see people. Instead, it ran and hopped a few steps, then turned its head to look at Lockhart.
When he approached a few more steps, it continued to run forward for a distance and then stopped to wait.
The Forest Witch called this phenomenon 'messengers of the forest,' a guidance the forest gave her.
She believed in such things and often followed the guidance, expecting good luck to happen soon.
For example, when she was sixteen, she followed a cat-leopard and found a cloak left behind by a hunter. It was her best birthday gift, and from then on, she didn't have to live with only a few leaves covering her body.
Lockhart followed the rabbit but didn't find anything.
The rabbit led him to a rabbit hole. "Are you trying to invite me to play in your house? But your house is too small."
The rabbit didn't speak, just squatted quietly in front of the rabbit hole.
Lockhart had to seek help from the Vengeful Fairy( Wornged Fairy) floating behind him. She was now close to the power of the earth and might understand the thoughts of these forest messengers.
The Vengeful Fairy( Wornged Fairy) shook her head, clearly unable to help in any way. Although she also had a rabbit's head, she was not a rabbit.
Just then, Lockhart suddenly felt a shadow enlarging in the corner of his vision.
He hurriedly turned his head to look, only to see that the seemingly well-behaved old scholar rabbit suddenly pounced on him, its large furry hind legs kicking towards his head.
"Ouch~"
He dodged in a panic, his body tilted, and he fell on his backside.
Bad!
A bad premonition flashed through his mind. He was probably going to accidentally smash the rabbit's home!
This can't be my fault—such thoughts were still flashing in his head when he suddenly felt himself falling rapidly.
Suddenly, strands of long pink tendrils quickly drooped down from high above, swiftly and accurately piercing into his body, trying to pull him up.
But he seemed to be falling into an abyss, dragging the Vengeful Fairy( Wornged Fairy) down with him.
Lockhart could see colorful streams of light around him, as if he had fallen into a time tunnel. Before long, he suddenly shifted horizontally without slowing down, rolling forward.
This force almost entangled him and the Vengeful Fairy( Wornged Fairy) together. The two, one human and one creature, hugged each other dizzily and continued to hurtle forward.
This experience was not pleasant at all.
All around were noisy roaring sounds, making him feel uncomfortable all over.
Finally, he didn't know how long or how short it was, but his body finally became stable and began to slide downwards like a slide.
He craned his neck, peeking out from beside the Vengeful Fairy( Wornged Fairy)'s head in his arms, vaguely seeing a bright spot diagonally below.
That place seemed to be the direction from which the roaring sound came.
Pop~
He landed gently on his backside, and his hands supporting him behind finally touched the warm, moist earth again.
Looking back, there was another rabbit hole behind him.
This place didn't seem to be very far from where he was just now, because he could still hear the cheers of the young wizards from the Quidditch pitch in the distance.
Of course, there was also a very familiar roaring sound in his ears.
It wasn't as loud as in the magic tunnel, but it was still very noisy.
That was...
The sound of a car engine?
Lockhart looked up and could only see a huge rock that had squeezed a large tree, causing it to grow crookedly. Beside the rock, a group of rabbits were angrily shouting upwards.
As if saying—"You're too noisy, you're too noisy, how can we sleep!"
The magical rabbit holes could amplify the tiny sounds from the outside world to keep the magical rabbits alert, but in the face of noise, they became hopeless sound amplifiers.
Lockhart patted the dirt off his body and stood up. First, he made sure that all four little creatures were still with him, then checked the flying broom in his ring, and finally touched the wand in his pocket. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and walked towards the rabbits.
The rabbits seemed to know he was there to help and quickly cleared a path.
Getting closer, he saw.
"Wow~~~"
What a huge spider web!
Lockhart had never seen such a massive spider web. It looked like a high wall, and the spider webs here were layered upon layers; he didn't know how many there were.
In the very center of the web, a car was firmly entangled, unable to break free no matter how desperately it revved its engine.
This car...
Was it that magical car invented by Arthur Weasley?
The flying car that Harry and Ron drove to school, crashed into the Whomping Willow, and then escaped into the Forbidden Forest to hide!
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