Chapter 204: Oh, yeah, so?
The students always assumed that Professor Lockhart was an omnipotent god who understood all the ways of the world, but this wasn't actually true.
When Lockhart was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, his strongest subject was the sub-discipline of 'Dark Creature Defence.'
For the actual 'Defence Against the Dark Arts' and 'Duelling' portions of the curriculum, he had to rely on Snape to instruct the young wizards. Unbeknownst to the students, Lockhart was actually following along and learning with them.
And now, with Lockhart taking on Care of Magical Creatures, he had stolen Newt Scamander's knowledge, but he still felt it wasn't enough. He had discovered that his journey into the subject of "The Romance of Fairy Tales" had led him to a new field: "Wizarding Life, Magical Life."
This field, however, required the cultivation of both 'Dark Creature Breeding' and 'Magical Creature Breeding.' He was already on the path for the former, but the latter was a completely new and unfamiliar domain.
And in this domain…
Hagrid was the only true god!
Lockhart believed that Mada-Go-cats were the future. Until he found another magical creature with similar characteristics, his most important task was to breed a new type of Mada-Go-cat—one whose looks could captivate both wizards and Muggles.
And for this task, he really had to ask Hagrid for help.
Who else could he possibly turn to?
He wracked his brain, but he couldn't think of anyone else who could pull off something so brilliant.
"Breed new species, the pretty kind?" Hagrid looked down at the scampering Mada-Go-cats, a look of confusion on his face. His heart melted. "Oh, they're such cute little things."
Lockhart felt a pang of despair. Hagrid's skills were definitely not a problem, but his sense of aesthetics might be a little different from most people's.
"Not that kind of cute, I mean the… special kind," he tried his best to explain.
Just then, a chorus of screams from the students echoed from a distance, especially from the young witches.
Lockhart turned his head to see the students, even the boys, gathered around a few young wolves.
The pups were truly beautiful, with fluffy white fur that had a soft, luxurious, satin-like sheen. Their eyes were a deep sapphire blue, their noses were a delicate pink, and their tails were large and bushy.
They looked a bit bigger than normal puppies and were more slender, combining both handsomeness and cuteness, strength and grace. It was hard to describe their beauty in words; they simply captured the human ideal of beauty so perfectly that the first thought upon seeing them was, I want one!
"Exactly like that!" Lockhart exclaimed, pointing at the wolf pups, feeling he had found his perfect template.
"Oh, like that," Hagrid said, sounding a bit uninterested. He agreed the pups were pretty, but only in a superficial way. They weren't the kind of "cute" he liked. In a giant's eyes, fierceness was the most natural and harmonious state for a magical creature. The pups had absolutely no trace of aggression in their appearance.
"Crossing a Mada-Go-cat with a werewolf pup ain't gonna be easy," Hagrid said, scratching his head in frustration.
"???" Lockhart froze.
Huh?
A what now?
Crossing a Mada-Go-cat with a werewolf pup?
How was that even possible? Wait, it actually sounded like it might be!
Lockhart's eyes lit up as he looked at Hagrid with anticipation. "Is there a way to do it?"
Hagrid shook his head. "It would take a huge amount of time and effort, but I don't really have that much time."
As Hogwarts's Keeper of Keys and Grounds, his daily work was already heavy. He was busy with all the creatures in the vast Forbidden Forest, not to mention his duties as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, which often gave him important missions.
The little free time he had left, he naturally wanted to devote to his own favourite cross-breeding projects. He was already too busy with the "little darlings" he wanted to breed himself.
Lockhart was understanding but still had a request.
"Could you explain these things to the students while you're breeding the animals?" Lockhart lowered his demands. "You could also ask the students for help. I'm sure that would make things a lot easier for you."
An equal exchange was the most common form of transaction, and even un-sentient animals instinctively accepted this natural rule. Lockhart didn't beat around the bush with Hagrid and made his offer directly.
Hagrid hesitated, then gave a shy, goofy smile. "Usually students only come to help me when they've been punished. It doesn't feel right, does it?"
Oh, Lockhart remembered.
Two years ago, Harry and Draco were given detention and were sent to the Forbidden Forest to help Hagrid, where they found Quirrell, the then-Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, sucking blood from a unicorn. Was that a punishment? Lockhart didn't think so. He smiled and gestured towards the students in the distance. "Look, they actually love magical creatures too."
Hagrid turned to look at the students and pups getting along so well, and his heart seemed to melt. His eyes filled with warmth as he mumbled, "That's lovely."
Snape didn't think it was lovely at all!
He stood on the side, gripping his wand tightly, silently cursing Lockhart and Hagrid for their carelessness and irresponsibility. The pups in front of them were no good!
These weren't ordinary pups, they were deadly beasts!
Werewolves, understand?!!
One bite and they'd be kicked out of the human race!
The way wolves showed affection was by mouthing with their jaws (like a friendly handshake), so a friendly nip was the same as a vicious attack. One false move and a student's life would be over!
Snape had once been led to a werewolf and nearly bitten himself, and he had an intense hatred for them. If a single hair was out of place, he swore, he truly swore he would use a Sectumsempra on that vicious pup and slice it in two!!!
Ahem, as for what to do with the body afterwards, that was a problem for later.
"All right," Hagrid finally agreed. He walked over, ushered the wolf pups back into their den, and called to the students, "Kids, don't get too close to 'em. You don't wanna get bitten."
With a wave of his massive hand, he led everyone to the area where he was breeding his new animals.
Snape, relieved but also a little regretful, cast a piercing gaze over the wolf pups before following the group.
They walked for a long time, a full half-hour, arriving at a chaotic rock pile in the Forbidden Forest.
"Careful, everyone. The rocks can get loose. Don't cast any spells on 'em, or they'll fall on us and we'll all get buried," Hagrid kindly warned them as they entered a cave-like gap between the rocks. But this warning only made the students draw their wands and look around alertly, as if ready to cast a spell at any moment.
This was clearly a result of Professor Lockhart's teaching—when you feel threatened, don't think, just draw your wand, decide on your first spell, and be ready to cast it in an instant.
"Oh, relax, everyone, relax," Hagrid tried his best to soothe the students, but it was no use. He turned to Lockhart for help, but only received a helpless look in return.
What could he do?
They had no choice but to keep going.
They walked through gaps in the large rocks, winding their way downwards. They soon entered an underground cavern system and continued even deeper.
"This used to be the den of a creature that looked a lot like a… a bamboo worm, I think. I don't know what it was. I found it had eaten a lot of the animals in the Forest, and I accidentally killed it when I was trying to chase it away. Later, I found its den right here."
"That may not have been a magical creature. It was probably a Dark creature."
Hagrid explained, leading them into a downward-sloping tunnel that had been excavated and expanded, following large stone steps that fit his stride.
After who knows how long, it got colder and colder. Eventually, the walls and stone steps were covered in frost, forcing everyone to walk more carefully to avoid slipping.
Finally, they reached the deepest point. Everyone shivered. A terrible cold wind, as if carrying a magical attack, burrowed into their bones.
"Soul Bonfire!"
"Warmth and Healing!"
Crabbe cast these two spells almost instinctively, without thinking.
A swirl of two-coloured flames quickly spread from his feet. Anyone who came into contact with the light instantly felt the comfortable warmth of spring, not the biting cold of winter.
"Oh, no, don't!"
Hagrid turned around in a panic, waving his hands at Crabbe. He looked extremely anxious. "You need to..."
But at that moment, a terrible roar came from a dark corner in the distance. It was a bizarre, echoing roar, like a horn, combined with a unique, buzzing vibration.
Crabbe looked at Hagrid, confused. Only when Lockhart shouted at him did he finally come to his senses and dispel the spells.
So everyone had to face the bone-chilling cold once more.
"ROAR—" The creature quickly lunged from the shadows. When it got closer, the chains on its body pulled taut, yanking it to the ground. It nimbly flipped back to its feet, roaring at them.
"Merlin's beard!" the students all gasped in unison.
Even Lockhart and Snape took a sharp breath.
The magical creature in front of them was so bloody ugly! It had the body of a lion, a thick, semi-translucent scorpion's tail growing from its back, and a vaguely human-like head on its neck!
The head could only be called human-like; it had eyes, a nose, and ears like a person, but its mouth had three rows of sharp, shark-like teeth. This head had red hair and a full beard, and its thick mane extended all the way down to its body, mixing with the lion's fur. It was utterly grotesque.
"A Manticore!" Snape said, his expression grave. "Its hide is said to be able to resist almost any spell. It's even more valuable than dragon hide!"
Hagrid nodded sadly. "That's right. Humans are always so cruel. Because of that trait, they hunted 'em down to make defensive armour and robes. Manticores are very rare now."
Lockhart gave Snape a strange look. "You know about these things?"
Snape glanced at the sorrowful Hagrid and answered in a low voice, "Yes. The animal's tail is the best ingredient for potent poisons and antidote potions."
Got it.
Lockhart nodded.
"This Manticore is in heat now, and it doesn't look like it's havin' a good time. I can't find a lioness for it to mate with," Hagrid said with a hint of sorrow. "It's all alone in this world, like a monster nobody can accept..."
Lockhart could obviously understand what Hagrid meant. He was about to offer some words of comfort, but before he could figure out what to say, Hagrid continued.
"So I brought it here. It's too cold for it here, and it's not a suitable place for it to live. But maybe it'll feel the warmth from a Fire Crab..."
Hagrid sincerely explained his thinking for cross-breeding magical creatures. Unlike Lockhart's idea of brewing a special mating potion or forcing the animals to breed, Hagrid was creating opportunities for cross-species breeding based on the animals' specific characteristics.
This seemed to involve a deep understanding of a magical creature's own magical properties.
Lockhart could sense that the Manticore's constant roaring was more of an act of bravado than true aggression. It was as if it was begging Hagrid to let it go, that the freezing cold was unbearable, and it was desperate for just a little bit of warmth.
"You're actually planning to cross that thing with a Fire Crab?" Snape listened, completely stunned. "Fire Crabs are a Manticore's food!"
Hagrid nodded, looking utterly confused. "Oh, yeah, so?"
"!!!" The students listening in were all completely dumbfounded.
..........
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