Professor Lockhart's Care of Magical Creatures class, much like a tricky charm, is an elective. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry offers a total of six elective courses, quite the selection for young witches and wizards!
The most demanding of these, Alchemy, is reserved for Sixth or Seventh Year students, a true test of their magical prowess. The other five electives are Arithmancy, Divination, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, and Muggle Studies.
Young witches and wizards must choose at least two electives starting from their Third Year, and they're even allowed to swap them in subsequent years, much like changing the ingredients in a potion!
By the beginning of their Fifth Year, students receive "career counselling" from their respective Head of House. This crucial discussion helps them decide their future paths and finalize their two chosen electives. This ensures they acquire the basic certificates needed for their future careers after taking their Ordinary Wizarding Level (OWL) exams.
For those with the ambition to delve deeper into the magical arts, this career consultation also helps determine the focus of their N.E.W.T. (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests) advanced classes in their Sixth and Seventh Years, allowing them to strive for higher-level certificates for more demanding professions.
For instance, aspiring Ministry of Magic employees absolutely must secure certificates in Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes. A Potions Master, on the other hand, would need to choose Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes.
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### The Allure of Magical Creatures
Of course, Third Year students don't need to fret about such distant concerns just yet. Many are keen to sign up for more than two electives, eager to explore their own magical potential, while others join simply because their friends are taking the same class.
It's quite amusing, really. Lockhart has noticed that the Care of Magical Creatures class he teaches sees the highest enrollment among Third Years. Fourth Years drop off by a quarter, Fifth Years by two-thirds, and by the Sixth and Seventh Years, there are only a handful of dedicated students left, much like stragglers after a particularly long Quidditch match.
Care of Magical Creatures is a subject that demands a certain innate gift. Some individuals just naturally have a way with animals, while others, much to their dismay, find themselves inexplicably chased or even attacked by wild dogs on a simple stroll. Older students, already pondering their future careers, often reluctantly forgo what seems like the most enchanting of the electives: Care of Magical Creatures. That, my dear friends, is the harsh reality of it.
While both Defence Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures have their own complexities and challenges, one is a compulsory subject and the other an elective. The societal influence gained from mastering the knowledge and skills in each is vastly different, much like comparing a powerful Unforgivable Curse to a simple everyday charm.
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### A Philosophical Debate in the Woods
"It's quite simple, really," Grindelwald remarked dismissively. "When a wizard faces the most terrifying attack from a magical beast, in the direst situation, they can simply use the Killing Curse to dispatch it. But this trick fails against dark magical creatures; the Killing Curse can't even get rid of a Boggart."
"Merlin's saggy trousers!" Professor Kettleburn exclaimed, puffing out his beard and glaring unhappily at Grindelwald. "How can you even think of starting with the Killing Curse when dealing with magical creatures! Our field is Care of Magical Creatures! Not Defence Against Magical Creatures!"
Grindelwald sneered, "Because we are wizards, we are humans, and they are merely beasts!"
This, my friends, is the perpetual struggle of four men living together; there's always an endless debate brewing. Lockhart and Lupin, sensible chaps that they are, had no desire to wade into such discussions. Lupin, being of a gentle disposition, disliked arguments, while Lockhart knew full well that no matter the topic, Grindelwald would inevitably steer the conversation towards his own political ideologies and swiftly persuade them, much like a well-aimed Confundus Charm.
Take, for instance, their previous discussion about Centaurs. Centaurs aren't precisely magical creatures; indeed, to label such intelligent beings as mere beasts would be an insult to humanity itself. Yet, they aren't dark magical creatures either. This posed a fascinating conundrum: Hogwarts doesn't teach witches and wizards how to deal with Centaurs!
It's not just Centaurs either; house-elves, goblins, and many other intelligent beings with powerful magical abilities are not specifically taught about in the magical schools. This, dear reader, is a rather significant issue. Imagine, if a house-elf were to betray a wizard, with their ability to freely traverse between wizarding households and Hogwarts, who could possibly stop them from causing harm?
The answer, it seems, lies with a specialized department within the Ministry of Magic. Thus, Grindelwald quickly took control of the conversation, launching into a lengthy discourse on the Ministry of Magic's nefarious intentions to use this to control pure-blood families and magical schools, much to the growing alarm of the other three. He even went on about how many political groups were pushing for the recognition of werewolves as 'humans,' which would lead to the removal of werewolf defence instruction from Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, leaving only the Ministry of Magic capable of dealing with them.
Honestly, sometimes, spending time with this remarkably astute old wizard provided the other three with deeper and broader perspectives on many matters, much like peering into a Pensieve.
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### Lockhart's Controversial Lesson
Lockhart quickly settled into his teaching rhythm. He casually "invited" a few neighbouring Billywigs and Diricawls from beside the mushroom house to serve as teaching aids, commencing his first lesson.
Grindelwald hadn't joined him as an assistant, preferring to wander around the school as if he couldn't be bothered with Lockhart. Later, for reasons unknown, he ambled over during the second lesson and began to appear in Lockhart's classroom.
"The Billywig, represented by the ancient rune '4', also carries another symbolic meaning," Lockhart began, much like a seasoned performer. "That is, the four relationships ancient wizards had with magical creatures!"
Lockhart brandished his wand, and text swiftly appeared on the blackboard behind him: "For Food (including medicine), For Entertainment, For Clothing, and For Companionship."
"As of today," he continued, "due to the dwindling habitats of magical creatures, many are facing extinction. Or perhaps, wizards have discovered substitutes for magical creature ingredients and remedies, eliminating the need to harm these beings. Consequently, the Ministry of Magic has enacted laws prohibiting the use of many magical creatures."
"The most common example is the Unicorn, frequently appearing in fairy tales and symbolizing purity."
Grindelwald, listening intently, found himself increasingly irked by these pronouncements. Every single one of Lockhart's statements triggered a torrent of rebuttals in his mind. Yet, he noticed a shadow lingering outside the classroom door, observing intently. With a sigh of frustration, he grudgingly clamped his mouth shut.
The injustice! Unicorns, such incredibly useful magical creatures! Instead of finding ways to breed them extensively and further develop their magical properties, wizards were obsessed with "protecting" them. What a tragic waste of potential! He felt as if he were sitting on thorns, wishing he were back in his Nurmengard cell rather than enduring this "foolish classroom."
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### A Slanderous Accusation and a Profound Question
Thankfully, he noticed that this young fellow, Gilderoy Lockhart, seemed to be just as restless and unconventional as himself. Heh heh.
The class quickly grew more intriguing.
"So, what's a way to circumvent these regulations?" Lockhart questioned, his voice taking on a mischievous tone. "How can we expand the wizarding world's use of magical creatures while still adhering to the law?"
Lockhart tapped the blackboard again, and another word materialized: "Breeding! The field of magical creature breeding, particularly hybridization, can lead to new species that are neither subject to the Ministry of Magic's magical creature protection decrees nor met with resistance from other witches and wizards."
The word "Breeding" swiftly branched out into another phrase, "Wizarding Life," which then extended further to "Wizarding Aesthetics."
"When we breed animals to better suit wizarding aesthetics, or even a broader human aesthetic, then their development in the realms of entertainment, clothing, and companionship will be immense," Lockhart elaborated.
"Conversely, if we breed animals to be uglier, people will naturally feel that killing such creatures isn't an issue at all. Everyone will accept such a practice."
"Imagine a magical creature that possesses all the magical abilities of a Unicorn, whose collected materials could be used in potions, alchemy, magical artifacts, wands, and so on, with the exact same effects. Yet, it's incredibly ugly and repulsive. Do you think wizards would still push for laws to protect them?"
Having posed this provocative thought, Lockhart gazed deeply at the young witches and wizards before him, a faint smile playing on his lips. "So, is such a notion correct? To define whether to kill a magical creature based on its beauty or ugliness? Or, to delve deeper, to define a wizard's evil or goodness based on their beauty or ugliness?"
"I want you to ponder this."
"There will never be a standard answer to this question."
"I can only leave you with a small hint." He gently tapped the blackboard with his wand; the words vanished one by one, until only "Wizarding Life" remained. "Wizarding Life, or perhaps, Magical Life, what kind of impact does it truly have?"
Dash it all! Grindelwald saw through him! Lockhart, that cunning rascal, was teaching a lesson with a hidden agenda! This fellow was subtly guiding something. Wizarding Life? Magical Life? Grindelwald stared at the words on the blackboard, then at the eloquently speaking Lockhart, his expression slowly growing stranger.
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