Chapter 32: Final Teaching Assessment
"The simplest way to distinguish between magical creatures and fantastic beasts is to see if they can only be truly observed by those with magic."
Lockhart tried his best not to delve into profound theories, only teaching the young wizards the easiest words to understand. "Muggles can't see ghosts, can't see Dementors, can't see Ghouls, but they can see Centaurs, see Knarls, see Kelpies."
"See? This is the most basic and also the most useful way to distinguish them."
He clapped his hands. "Crystal clear."
"In the future, you will learn more about Defence Against the Dark Arts involving magical creatures and Care of Magical Creatures, knowing the respective ways to deal with these two types. In the future, when facing these non-human beings, as long as you use this method to distinguish them, you will know which approach to take."
"Second, magical characteristics."
"The magic of fantastic beasts is very close to the magic of wizards, or we can boldly speculate that ancient wizards learned many spellcasting techniques from fantastic beasts."
"For example, the 'Kneazle' is born with the magical ability of 'Legilimency.' For example, the Runespoor is born with the magical ability of 'Apparition.'"
"And magical creatures, strictly speaking, do not possess what wizards recognize as spellcasting abilities. They themselves are magic. You will find that the magical abilities they display fall into the category of 'rules.'"
Lockhart's expression became strange as he mentioned this. "Take house-elves, for example. You will find that their space-travel ability, similar to Apparition, is unconstrained, ignoring wizarding magic, unless we consciously create 'rules' that prohibit the occurrence of such 'rules.'"
The young wizards all gasped in surprise.
They had obviously never thought that house-elves could be so powerful before.
Lockhart tapped the blackboard. "Third, biological nature."
"Fantastic beasts strictly follow the habits of animals in nature: birth, old age, sickness, death, reproduction. So we will find that they have genders and populations."
"Magical creatures do not have this characteristic. They do not have strictly defined genders, no populations, no reproduction, and no life cycle."
Lockhart tapped Draco's notes on Dementors. "Take Dementors, for example. You will absolutely never hear about Dementors falling in love and having babies."
"Oh~~" Draco pulled his small face away from his notes, a look of discomfort on his face. "Yes, that's very strange!"
Lockhart smiled slightly, waiting for them to absorb these three points.
There was nothing difficult here, and it was easy to understand.
After waiting for a while, he continued, "Wizards have always been arrogant. We have never distinguished these creatures based on their inherent strength."
Lockhart quickly wrote a line on the blackboard, tapped it, and read it aloud, "We distinguish them based on their 'degree of danger to wizards'!"
"The danger level of fantastic beasts has five levels in total. You will learn the specific classifications next year when you take Care of Magical Creatures."
"But please note one point!"
"When we find a specific method or invent a certain spell to deal with a certain fantastic beast, its danger level will decrease, regardless of its own strength."
"The same goes for magical creatures."
Lockhart put down the blackboard in his hand and looked at them seriously. "Since they are inherently magic, then for wizards, there is a distinction between normal magic and dark magic. Magic that brings negative emotional impact to wizards is dark magic, and so are dark magical creatures."
"With such a distinction, I think you should be able to easily identify where the positioning of 'dark magical creatures' lies."
Hermione's small face wrinkled. "Distinguishing everything based on the standards of wizards?"
Lockhart nodded. "Yes, that's why we call it wizarding society, not magical society. We say the International Confederation of Wizards, not the International Confederation of Magic."
"That's not right!" Hermione expressed her inability to accept such a practice.
"But that's reality." Lockhart looked at her with a smile. "When you are powerless to change the world, the reality you see is the reality you should accept."
"Alright, let's continue to delve deeper."
He didn't want the topic to stay on these most basic concepts.
"You must have noticed one problem just now. House-elves are magical creatures, but they also possess the biological nature of fantastic beasts. They truly have birth, old age, sickness, death, and the ability to reproduce."
Draco, Pansy, and other students who had house-elves at home immediately reacted and nodded quickly.
"There is currently no monograph on this topic. It seems there is no academic research in this direction." Lockhart picked up the wooden board again, gesturing for them to look at the three key points of distinction. "But there is definitely an intermediate zone between fantastic beasts and magical creatures."
"The following definition can only be said to be my speculation. You can write it down and leave it for you to verify in the future."
Lockhart wrote the last phrase in the corner—"Wizarding Life."
"House-elves were originally called 'domestic elves,' and their object of dependence was the wizard's residence, exchanging labor for food."
"This caused them to participate extensively in wizarding life, beginning the transition from magical creatures to fantastic beasts, starting to become something in between the two."
"If you have been to the Ministry of Magic, you will see the 'Fountain of Magical Brethren,' knowing that Centaurs, Goblins, house-elves have even highly participated in human historical events. This is a further step into 'wizarding fairy-tale life.'"
"Similarly, we will also find that dark magical creatures that participate in wizarding life are also slowly undergoing a certain degree of change, such as the Dementors in Azkaban prison. They can already have a certain degree of communication ability."
"Regarding the exploration in this area..."
Lockhart picked up the notebook from in front of Harry, gesturing for everyone to look at his choice. "The Basilisk is an excellent case."
"It is a research result of wizards artificially guiding the transformation of fantastic beasts into dark magical creatures."
Saying this, he placed the notebook back on the table with some distaste. "But it is a failed result."
"According to the information that can be found from the past, its breeding method is 'a magical egg laid by a seven-year-old rooster when Sirius is in the sky, and hatched by a toad.' This classification in the field of dark magical creatures is 'existence contrary to common sense.'"
Lockhart beckoned, and a golden light quickly leaped down from the treetops not far away, flying swiftly to his shoulder.
Little Goldie blinked his fragmented golden eyes, looking at all the young wizards.
The magic environment of fear and despair was released, and every young wizard instantly became stiff, as if frightened by something indescribable and unable to move.
This influence quickly disappeared again, and Little Goldie took a biscuit from Lockhart and slipped back into the depths of the dense foliage.
The young wizards all took a breath of cold air. Even Hermione, who had experienced it more than once, still found it difficult to accept such a terrifying feeling.
"This is the magical characteristic of 'existence contrary to common sense'!"
Lockhart's voice spoke in their ears. "Their existence exceeds the common sense in wizards' cognition, so it will instantly disintegrate the wizard's understanding of the world, causing the wizard to be unable to make any feedback."
"The Basilisk is a monster bred in an anti-common-sense direction."
"But its researchers were too greedy, wanting both the immortality of 'dark magical creatures' and the reproduction of 'fantastic beasts.' In the end, it became something in the fuzzy middle ground, not inheriting the advantages of either, but instead gathering the disadvantages of both."
"The existence contrary to common sense will cause humans to collapse internally even with just a direct gaze, but it cannot."
"Wizards will not be so frightened by its huge snake body that they can't move, nor will they be killed just by seeing its body. Instead, it requires eye contact, which is equivalent to invading the window of the soul to distort it, and only then will it cause death."
Speaking of this, Lockhart smiled slightly, looking at them seriously. "So, the question is."
"We already know the characteristics of the 'Basilisk,' this half-baked dark magical creature. How should we defend against it?"
Hermione raised her hand. "Don't look into its eyes!"
"Very good." Lockhart nodded and looked at the others. "Are there any other answers?"
Everyone thought hard. Neville in the corner opened his mouth, then shyly didn't dare to speak.
"Neville, you tell us."
Neville's face flushed instantly. Seeing everyone looking over, he said in a small voice, "Prevent... prevent the collapse of the inner world?"
"Yes!" Lockhart laughed heartily. "The best answer!"
Neville's eyes lit up instantly. He hadn't expected that his answer would be the best. Looking at the gazes of his little friends, his face flushed again.
Fortunately, the professor continued speaking, attracting everyone's attention, so he didn't feel even more embarrassed.
"A clear sense of right and wrong in your worldview, a positive and upward-looking attitude towards life, and the great courage to face the terrible."
Lockhart spoke seriously about these things. "This is the answer. If you can truly have such a powerful mind, even if you stare at the Basilisk until the end of time, its gaze will not be able to harm you in the slightest!"
"Of course, this is also the best way for us to resist the influence of dark magic on ourselves."
"I know, this is difficult."
He shrugged. "This not only requires us to cultivate our inner selves in ordinary times but also requires us to be in the best mental state at the right time. Everyone's mental state is not constant. Sometimes we encounter bad things and are always at our lowest moments, then we cannot face it."
"So we can also use some magical artifacts or potions to help us."
Lockhart raised an eyebrow. "For example, the legendary Sword of Gryffindor, it can bestow unparalleled courage on people, but it is said that only those who also possess great courage can gain its favor."
"This sword seems a bit useless, bestowing more steadfast and powerful courage on the courageous to face all irrationality. This is not so useful in many situations but is very suitable for dealing with the Basilisk."
As for why the Sword of Gryffindor was specifically for Slytherin's Basilisk, hehe, some topics were obviously not suitable for discussing too much with young wizards.
Lockhart looked at the eight young wizards in front of him with a smile.
He sincerely hoped they could take his words to heart.
He didn't know if Dumbledore would choose to let Harry Potter, this "fairy-tale epic hero," face the Basilisk alone as a form of cultivation in the future, or if he hadn't made such strict demands.
But if not, perhaps letting the group of young wizards he had trained face the Basilisk together would be the best way.
As a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, there was no better assessment of teaching results than a group of excellent students he had taught teaming up to take down a half-finished dark magical creature.
To be honest, Lockhart really didn't take the Basilisk seriously.
This was confidence in his professional field.
The only thing he found challenging was the Dark Lord's curse on his position. This was a curse that even Dumbledore and all the powerful figures Dumbledore could possibly find connections with couldn't deal with. This was the truly deadly existence.
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