Chapter 150: The Cultivation of Dark Magical Creatures
With the full moon approaching, Lockhart was also getting busy with his own affairs and wasn't involved in Snape's potion research.
He dedicated more of his energy to the content of "The Cultivation of Dark Magical Creatures," the book he had acquired during his adventure with Snape.
This book came at just the right time, because from an academic perspective, Tom Riddle in the Horcrux diary and Corban the werewolf could now both be categorized as Dark magical creatures.
It was a peculiar experience to gain wisdom from his future self.
Lockhart flipped through the book, feeling a spiritual connection with a different self, both strange and familiar. If Tom Riddle in the diary had the chance to chat with the current Voldemort, they would probably feel that subtle sense of absurdity too.
The book confirmed his previous speculation: magical creatures participating in wizarding life would develop biological characteristics.
However, it also refuted another part: magical creatures don't transform into fantastic beasts, but rather evolve towards the state of wizards.
This evolution delved into the most fundamental discussions of life.
So, what exactly is a wizard?
From a cultivation perspective, a wizard is human, born of a mother, which is undeniable. But a wizard resurrected by a resurrection spell after death, would they no longer be considered human?
A resurrected wizard is not born of a mother but from magic, which is very subtle.
His future self had found some research materials from ancient evil wizards on this topic and discovered that Squibs, who cannot undergo a normal magical outburst to become wizards, cannot produce offspring with magical creatures like goblins, giants, Veela, etc. Muggles cannot either; only wizards can.
In other words, the biological state of a wizard has actually undergone a very thorough change—a magical outburst.
From then on, they became magical creatures.
The bloodline of magical creatures is actually magic, magic with specific attributes.
This is why wizards can produce offspring with magical creatures: because they both possess the "magical" bloodline, they are essentially the same species.
Such research findings were undoubtedly anti-human and didn't align with mainstream narratives—everyone emotionally agreed that wizards were human.
But the interesting part was that wizards could also have offspring with Squibs and Muggles.
Thus, the future Lockhart concluded that wizards possess the most unique dual bloodlines: human bloodline and magical bloodline.
This was the initial research finding.
It was soon overturned, or rather, further developed.
Based on this research, the future Lockhart naturally had a question: what was the original source of the magical bloodline?
He couldn't get an answer because all reasoning failed to form a logically coherent closed loop.
But what if one detached from logical thinking?
Yes, by not using a logical approach to explore this area, after all, it wasn't magical.
He first hypothesized a point: humans inherently possess a magical bloodline. And instantly, everything made sense.
Why do wizards have a magical bloodline? Because humans entered the realm of mystery, and then the power of the mind erupted with immense force, giving birth to magic.
And other animals and plants, by participating in wizarding life, also began to acquire the wizard's magical bloodline.
This change, over the long course of magical history, continuously extended in various directions. By leaving wizarding life, they changed, forming stable bloodline inheritance for their own magical creature species, and by re-approaching wizarding life, their bloodlines changed again.
This was a hypothesis, not the reality explored by the future Lockhart.
But it was sufficient to serve as a theoretical guide for many research outcomes.
First, the more magical creatures integrate into human life, the more they tend towards human form. Vampires, werewolves, giants, centaurs, goblins, house-elves, merpeople, Veela (a type of harpies), etc., their evolution is ongoing.
Second, overly extreme magical attributes can harm wizards, especially Dark Arts, which can drive wizards mad and turn magical creatures into Dark magical creatures. From a cultivation perspective, this state means moving further and further away from wizarding life, evolving in the opposite direction.
Voldemort is an example; he is evolving towards the state of a Dark magical creature.
Third, how do Muggles acquire a magical bloodline? By having more contact with mysterious events and magical life, preferably the magical life of wizards.
In this regard, the future Lockhart conducted extensive research, even seeking out Hermione's parents. Using highly skilled Memory Charms, he explored the memories the couple might have forgotten, ultimately confirming that Hermione's father, due to his good reputation for dentistry among a certain wizarding community, was often sought out and ultimately subjected to numerous Memory Charms.
Of course, this memory retrieval was performed with the Grangers' consent.
Not just this couple, the future Lockhart sought out the parents of many Muggle-born wizards and found many corroborating cases.
Thus, "The Cultivation of Dark Magical Creatures" presented a final magical theory:
...
When a creature enters a mysterious event, magic naturally blossoms. Depending on the strength, characteristics, legendary status, and other dimensions of the magical imprint it acquires, a magical bloodline ultimately forms, or an existing magical bloodline transforms. Furthermore, this change often appears as a clear change in offspring through bloodline inheritance, but if the intensity is too high, it can also directly alter the individual's state.
....
Based on this theory, the future Lockhart understood the characteristic of werewolf transmission.
That is the injection of magical bloodline. A wizard thus gains an additional magical bloodline. And this bloodline injection isn't explained by the Potions theory of wolfsbane, nor the Transfiguration theory of magical accidents, nor the biological state change theory of species cultivation. Instead, it reverts to the original perspective of magical awakening, arguing that the wizard thus entered the mysterious event of the werewolf.
This was a way of interpretation unprecedented in past wizarding history.
So, the future Lockhart proposed a completely new solution for werewolf poisoning: to allow werewolves to integrate more into wizarding life. The werewolf's magical bloodline would spontaneously transform towards the wizard's magical bloodline, ideally by participating in wizarding mysterious adventures.
To a certain extent, future generations would show signs of werewolf magical bloodline degeneration or even disappearance.
Furthermore, with a higher degree of participation, there was a chance for werewolves themselves to directly change their state and revert to being wizards.
The future Lockhart conducted some experiments in this area, with remarkable results; many werewolf offspring were indeed evolving towards human form.
This was a very difficult experiment because wizarding society generally rejected werewolves participating in wizarding life, which ultimately forced werewolves to participate more intensely in werewolf mysterious events, strengthening their magical bloodline.
So...
Here's the interesting part.
In a social environment where the International Confederation of Wizards and various Ministries of Magic generally uphold the Statute of Secrecy, and where the upper echelons of wizarding society generally reject Muggles, how does one get Muggles to participate more in wizarding life?
The answer was actually right there—Muggle-born wizards.
They could more easily influence their Muggle relatives and those around them.
For example, Harry Potter once turned his aunt (Vernon's sister) into a balloon and sent her flying into the sky. Of course, it wasn't just things like that. Muggle-born students received their basic education in Muggle schools and lived in Muggle communities.
Theoretically, each Muggle-born wizard could influence a vast number of people.
"What an interesting and truly marvelous notion..."
Lockhart browsed through this book, compiled by his future self, with great interest. Much of its content was not easy to understand, as it lacked much logical coherence. Many sections frequently used terms like "mysterious event," "adventure activity," and "magic" to substitute missing links.
This wasn't necessarily the ultimate truth.
But when applied to certain situations in real life, it often held true.
Therefore, it could be used.
Lockhart stroked his chin, contemplating how to arrange some experiments to verify his own hypotheses.
The full moon was approaching, and Voldemort was still waiting for him to deliver a surprise.
Corban, time to work!
Tom, time to work!
....
Late at night, the Ministry of Magic believed that Corban Yaxley, who was supposedly imprisoned in the Department of Mysteries' Hall of Bloodline, was actually at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
He was floating inside a fairy tale book, suspended in mid-air in Lockhart's Hogwarts office.
Also inside the fairy tale book were the Voldemort Horcrux diary and the Basilisk bred by Slytherin.
Lockhart stood before the fairy tale book, gazing intently and with focus at the interesting developments within the story. From time to time, he would wave his wand, casting spells inside, influencing the progress of Corban's adventure.
"Where's Professor Lockhart?" Tom clearly sensed that the person holding the diary was no longer the shrewd professor.
"He's dead; I ripped him to shreds with my own hands!" Corban answered smugly. "What exactly are you? Master gave you to me and told me to keep you safe."
"I am someone who can help you!" Tom clearly recognized an opportunity. It seemed he had escaped the dangerous Hogwarts and was far from Dumbledore. Now, getting someone to kill and resurrect himself would be even easier.
He immediately set his sights on the person communicating with him.
Perhaps this guy was much more useful than that Ginny Weasley.
....
For advanced chapters:
Get early access to 90 advanced chapters before anyone else!
👉 Join now: patreon.com/Chaos_God