#777 - Lockhart (asking for monthly ticket recommendation ticket)

After talking with Dumbledore, Grindelwald felt his worldview had been severely impacted.

He never expected that the seemingly useless International Confederation of Wizards was actually playing a shocking game of chess spanning centuries.

As for whether everything Dumbledore said was true, after recalling everything he had experienced in his youth, he already had the answer in his heart.

Indeed, decades or even hundreds of years ago, the International Confederation of Wizards had been deliberately downplaying the differences between Muggle-born wizards and pure-blood wizards, while gradually relaxing restrictions on unions between wizards and Muggles.

Due to the Statute of Secrecy, the International Confederation of Wizards had initially placed the wizarding world on a relatively weak side, so such unions did not arouse suspicion from Muggle officialdom.

And the results were very obvious. In wizarding communities in countries such as France, Egypt, and Spain, the status of Muggle-born wizards was not much different from that of pure-blood wizards, and the population was gradually increasing.

If such a public opinion environment were allowed to develop for several more decades, the act of intermarriage between wizards and Muggles might no longer be discriminated against.

What would follow would be a substantial increase in the wizarding population, until the gap with Muggles narrowed to a certain point.

At that time, it might be the best time to increase the wizarding world's voice!

Of course, that was if no one was causing trouble. Grindelwald knew that he had launched his revolution because he was dissatisfied with the wizarding world's isolation and disgusted by its gradual approach to Muggle society.

But from a long-term perspective, he was actually slamming on the brakes for the developing wizarding world, reigniting the conflict between wizards and Muggles.

Thinking of this, Grindelwald couldn't help but smile bitterly in self-deprecation. He originally thought he was the one with foresight, but in the end, he realized that he was short-sighted.

"Thank you for allowing me to see the truth. I am satisfied with this answer." Although Grindelwald awakened from his confusion, he still appeared lost and forlorn.

Grindelwald pointed to the wand belonging to Gellert on the table, "May I?"

"Please!" Dumbledore nodded indifferently.

Grindelwald nodded slightly, then picked up the wand, stroking it in his hand as if reminiscing about his friend.

Then he pointed the wand tip to his temple, and after a while, he extracted a strand of crystal-clear memory fluid, "This is what I gained from the Peverell tomb. I hope it can help you."

Dumbledore quickly took out a crystal bottle and stored the memory, which was his main purpose for coming here.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, please leave. I still want to finish reading this book tonight."

After Grindelwald gave Dumbledore the order to leave, he picked up the old book that had been turned to tatters and turned away.

For some reason, when Dumbledore saw Grindelwald's back at this time, he felt that he looked older than when he had first arrived.

It seemed that there were still some things that the old man couldn't let go of.

But this was none of Dumbledore's business. He bowed politely to Grindelwald, then left the tower without looking back.

As soon as he left Nurmengard, Dumbledore Apparated away. He had no interest in the old man's inner world. The most important thing now was to figure out the truth about the Deathly Hallows.

After returning to England, Dumbledore didn't even bother to pick up Harry, and plunged into the laboratory. He believed that the Weasley family could take good care of Harry.

By the time Dumbledore walked out of the laboratory triumphantly, it was already half a month later. If Kiki hadn't reminded him in time, he would have almost forgotten that today was Hogwarts' opening ceremony.

And in these two weeks of research, Dumbledore had gained a great deal. The content in Grindelwald's memory unlocked a big mystery for him.

At that time, Grindelwald dug open the tomb to crack the mystery of the Deathly Hallows, but he didn't find anything else of value.

Inside the coffin was only Ignatius's corpse, and there were no other funerary objects besides the clothes on his body.

However, Grindelwald was indeed a ruthless person back then. After discovering that he had not found any funerary objects, this guy was still not discouraged, and actually stripped Ignatius naked.

If Ignatius was just an ordinary person, then the story would probably end here. He might just be a pitiful person who was desecrated by a pervert after death.

But the fact is that Ignatius's corpse did contain some secrets.

When Grindelwald dug out the coffin, Ignatius had already turned into a skeleton, but there was indeed a magical pattern that was extremely difficult to detect remaining on the bones.

This was very puzzling, because normally speaking, this kind of magical pattern, which looked like it was created after the fact, could only be seen on alchemical items. It was very strange for magical patterns to appear on a corpse.

After all, humans are just flesh and blood. Inscribing magical patterns on the body, especially inside near the bones, is no different from suicide.

The magical turbulence caused by simply driving the magical patterns could tear a person to pieces!

The pattern extended upward from Ignatius's abdominal spine, then spread along the bones throughout his body, and there were 4 special magical nodes distributed in his abdomen, chest, and shoulders.

Over time, those patterns and nodes had actually become very dim. Even if ordinary people studied them carefully, it would be difficult to see them.

But Grindelwald noticed it extremely keenly, but at that time he couldn't figure out what the magical patterns remaining on the bones meant, so he just collected Ignatius's corpse.

And when Dumbledore followed Grindelwald's memory and saw those magical patterns clearly, he immediately realized that this might be related to the Deathly Hallows.

However, because of the memory and the fact that most of the patterns on the broken corpse were damaged, it was very difficult to study.

For this reason, Dumbledore spent nearly half a month to barely restore the magical patterns, and at the same time, he gradually understood the mysteries of these magical patterns.

He found that these magical patterns didn't seem to be engraved into the body by alchemical means, but were left in the body over time by casting spells along the path of that magical pattern.

In other words, those magical patterns were something like stones, a kind of magical byproduct.

And the magical patterns that could still remain on the corpse after more than a thousand years meant that the magical density running along the magical patterns must be extremely strong.

Even with Dumbledore's current body, he probably couldn't withstand this high-intensity magical impact, so he initially suspected that this shouldn't be caused by some kind of magic or spell.

Since it wasn't a product of spells, Dumbledore naturally thought of the Deathly Hallows, and even substituting the Hallows could explain the function of those nodes.

The nodes on the chest and abdomen might be related to the Resurrection Stone and the Elder Wand, while the two nodes on the shoulders could correspond to the Invisibility Cloak.

If you think along these lines, it becomes much clearer. The reason why Dumbledore and Dumbledore had tried so many times to connect the Hallows was probably because they couldn't be directly combined at all.

If you want to truly integrate the Deathly Hallows, you probably have to use the human body as a carrier, and then find a way to connect them in series.

Just like electronic components on a circuit board, the Deathly Hallows must rely on the flesh to exert their true power.

However, after days of research, Dumbledore discovered that the Hallows might have a closer relationship with the human body.

If you have to describe it, it might be as close as the organs and body of a person.

"Are we going to use the Deathly Hallows as accessory organs? It sounds really weird..." Dumbledore murmured to himself.

"Never mind, no matter what the result is, it has to be determined after the experiment. It's just that the risk of using the human body for direct testing is not low."

Dumbledore shook his head helplessly after thinking for a moment. Anyway, it was impossible for him to experiment on himself. It seemed that he had to resume his old business and find a few Dark Wizards to use as materials.

After making up his mind, Dumbledore set off to return to Hogwarts. Because of the time crunch, he didn't take Leona this time, but took Hogg directly through the Doorway to his office.

But when he finally arrived at the Great Hall, he realized that he was still late, and didn't even make it to the Sorting Ceremony.

Seeing Dumbledore late again, Professor McGonagall, who was hosting the opening ceremony, couldn't help but roll her eyes at him frantically.

Seeing this, Dumbledore could only give an apologetic look with a guilty conscience. He didn't want to either, but sometimes he really forgot the time when he was doing research.

But when he saw a certain figure at the staff table, Dumbledore couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

"Professor Lockhart, I didn't expect you to return to Hogwarts to teach." After taking a seat next to Snape, Dumbledore greeted the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

Dumbledore wasn't particularly familiar with Lockhart, his old classmate. He hadn't paid much attention to him over the years.

He only learned that he seemed to have become an adventurer after graduation, and had written several books for this purpose. He heard that these books sold quite well, and it seemed that he had also earned a Third Class Order of Merlin. The radio channel Dumbledore opened had also invited him to an interview.

But with Dumbledore's understanding of Lockhart, he always felt that this guy had nothing to do with the so-called adventurer. Just based on the flashy clothes he was wearing, wouldn't he be beaten to death in minutes if he went out to adventure?

And Dumbledore, who was constantly busy, really didn't have the energy to care about this flamboyant old classmate. He just greeted him politely when they met.

"Ah ha! It's Dumbledore!"

As soon as he saw Dumbledore appear, Lockhart excitedly filled his face with a smile, "There's no way, Headmaster Dumbledore personally came to my door to ask, I really couldn't bear to disappoint the headmaster."

"But when I think about returning to Hogwarts, I can cooperate with you again, Dumbledore, and I can't help but feel excited!"

Lockhart excitedly raised his chest, revealing a lavender bow tie under his turquoise robe.

"I've already decided to write a new book for this year, called 'Co-Managing Hogwarts with Dumbledore Wilson'!"

After saying that, Lockhart showed a gratified expression, "I knew that your future achievements would be limitless. It's really not in vain that I once gave you guidance!"

After saying that, Lockhart first raised his chin very narcissistically, and then couldn't help but lift his chair and rub it towards Dumbledore's direction.

He knew very well that the former student in front of him was now a remarkable figure. Wouldn't he have to rub off on the other party's popularity?

"Ah?" Dumbledore glanced at Lockhart inexplicably, then looked at Snape in confusion, trying to get the answer from him.

"Heh..." Snape snorted coldly, then said in a deep voice, "Since that guy confirmed his employment at Hogwarts, he has been spreading everywhere that he is your close friend, and even claimed that you achieved your current achievements because you had been guided by him."

Then Snape stared at Dumbledore suspiciously, "This can't be true, right?"

"There's such a thing?" Dumbledore found it quite amusing when he heard this, then shook his head helplessly, "I'm not familiar with him. The only time I talked to him was in the library, and he introduced me to a book on mind magic."

"I knew that guy was unreliable." Snape pouted dissatisfied, then couldn't help but roll his eyes at Dumbledore, "By the way, where did you run off to these past two months?"

"That idiot Lockhart took advantage of your reputation and boasted outside for more than a month. Many people actually believed it after discovering that you didn't stand up to refute it. Now this guy has turned himself into a big celebrity!"

Then Snape couldn't help but mutter, "Since that's the case, why don't you quickly expose this guy's lies? He's slandering your reputation like this, can you tolerate this?"

After learning about Lockhart's recent actions, Dumbledore was also a little speechless, but remembering the pile of unfinished affairs in his hands and the Deathly Hallows experiment, he still shook his head.

"I don't have that much free time now, and after all, Lockhart is the new professor Dumbledore invited back, so let's let him go for the time being. Anyway, I think this guy is harmless to humans and animals."

"Hmph, you'll regret it sooner or later." Snape replied coldly, then shifted his gaze to Harry and the others, "Also, why are Potter and those guys so fat after a summer vacation? Are you feeding them feed?"

As soon as Snape mentioned this, Dumbledore immediately became angry, "Don't worry, they won't be fat for long!"

Snape raised his eyebrows when he heard this. It seemed that these little ghosts were in for a hard time next, and then he looked at Harry with interest.

At this time, Harry also happened to look over here and made eye contact with Snape.

After experiencing the shared hardship in Despair Town, Harry wouldn't say that he liked Snape from now on, but at least his perception had improved a lot.

Therefore, when he saw Snape, he also politely cast a friendly look.

However, after touching Snape's meaningful gaze, he couldn't help but shudder, as if something terrible was about to happen.