Chapter 33 Changes
Draco Malfoy, who used to frequently provoke Harry,no longer appeared in their presence as often.
This seemed to be due to the decline of the Malfoy family
and the change in the attitudes of those around him, especially his two henchmen—they no longer followed him around all day.
He began to live a secluded life.
Only during Potions class, when he saw Snape mocking Harry, would he show a slight smile,
a ray of sunshine appearing on his face .
But what puzzled Basil the most was Snape.
Because in the conversation at Hagrid's hut, Harry no longer cared about Snape's sarcasm.
Instead, he often showed understanding, even sympathy.
He also worked much harder in Potions class.
But Snape still relentlessly unleashed his venomous tongue on Harry.
For this, he even abandoned his passive-aggressive behavior towards Neville.
Quirrell's influence also began to spread throughout the school.
Ravenclaw students began to mention Quirrell's house of origin, something
they had previously avoided.
In this century, Ravenclaw had produced very few outstanding graduates.
Only Lockhart and Rita Skeeter were truly remarkable.
Due to Dumbledore's excellence and the bias in "Hogwarts: A History,"
coupled with the Sorting Hat's greater consideration for students' own wishes,
a large number of students who would have qualified for Ravenclaw ended up in Gryffindor.
Only a few who purely valued intelligence and loved reading, along with the majority who considered themselves intelligent and barely met the standards, entered Ravenclaw.
This minority, too simple-minded and enthusiastic, focused solely on their passions.
They were more like eccentrics—
studying the levitation charm's effects on troll boogers
, spending days and nights cracking eggs in a corner of the common room and recording predictions of how the yolks would fall.
The majority weren't unintelligent;
they simply met the standards.
With the best students going to Gryffindor, Ravenclaw's academic performance wasn't as strong.
This greatly surprised Basil.
It was similar to Hufflepuff taking all the students who didn't meet the standards, while the other honest badgers were led astray, becoming dishonest and gossipy.
Of course, Basil didn't care much about these things.
He was more concerned with his own progress and increasing his world's deflection.
So, he boldly asked questions in various courses,
and gained a lot from it.
In Transfiguration class, because of his question, Professor McGonagall finally transformed into a cat in front of everyone. She
even answered the question he cared about most: "Granger, inside the castle, no one can transform or revert. I can only do so with Dumbledore's permission. If a wizard who has learned Animagi, that is, an Animagus, sneaks into the castle, he will remain in the state he entered if he doesn't leave. Only after leaving the castle can he transform into a human or an animal."
This disappointed Basil a little.
He had deliberately asked this question to try and get Scabbers in Ron's pocket to take the risk.
Then he directly used Displacement to throw Scabbers, now human, in front of Dumbledore.
Inside the castle, he was invincible.
In Charms class, Basil perfectly demonstrated the softening charm he had learned in the class.
He transformed the hard wooden chair and the contact surface between his buttocks and his body into a sofa-like texture.
After receiving praise and extra points from Professor Flitwick,
he immediately raised two questions that other students might have considered radical.
"Professor," he said, "I've heard it said that magic is like a muscle. Ordinary spells can only work parts of it. Only advanced spells can encompass the whole."
"I've also heard that our own magical magnetic field is resistant to spells, just like dragon skin is resistant to them. So why are some simple curses, or even magic spells, able to overcome it?"
Upon hearing the question, Professor Flitwick excitedly fell off his stack of books.
Perhaps he had been tickled, which made him unusually talkative.
"A vivid and illustrative analogy!"
"But the advanced spells you're referring to don't train; they change the nature of 'muscles.'"
"In fact, I personally think it's more appropriate to use our personalities, our thoughts, and our equally ethereal hearts as a metaphor for this magic, which is also merely a concept. No, or rather, they are essentially the same thing."
"Using spells with positive emotions regularly will make you more sunny and cheerful. Using spells with negative emotions regularly will make you more gloomy and withdrawn. These are often referred to as white magic and black magic. As your personality changes, your magic will also become biased in the eyes of more perceptive wizards. Spells used with the corresponding emotion are more powerful, while those used with the opposite emotion are less effective."
"Just like a dark wizard cannot use the Patronus Charm; it will cause a backfire, and they will be devoured by the summoned insects."
"And when used with spells that have no bias, your spells will also change. A harmless stun spell can be fatal in the hands of a wizard with negative emotions. In the eyes of an ordinary wizard, it's simply becoming stronger."
"But in fact, as long as you use spells, whether ordinary or advanced, the progress they bring is equivalent in terms of magical power. Advanced spells simply make you more accustomed to and better at using mental power, and give it a bias."
"Low-level spells, that is, the regular spells learned in the first to third years, are equivalent to advanced spells when you truly understand them, use them with appropriate emotions, or directly drive them with strong ego."
"And mental power is the answer to your second question."
"A magical field is also a product of magic, but it is more material. Unless you have mastered the technique of infusing mental power into it, for a simple spell without the application of mental power, it will partially or completely cancel it out depending on its own strength. (Basil: Got it, a magical field infused with mental power is true magic resistance)"
"And the evil curse you mentioned, the prerequisite for releasing it is to use mischief and trickery in the spell to torment the caster's mind."
Then the bell rang.
Hogwarts teachers did not have the habit of going overtime. After assigning 3 inches of homework, Professor Flitwick left the classroom.
Only an excited Basil, a thoughtful Hermione, and the other students remained.
However, to Basil's disappointment, Professor Flitwick didn't cover much outside the classroom in subsequent Charms classes.
Especially when he asked about the title "Archmage," Professor Flitwick bluntly stated that it wasn't something he should know.
It wouldn't benefit his future magical research and could easily lead to a cognitive bias.
In Defense Against the Dark Arts class, in front of Quirrell, who was essentially Voldemort incarnate,
Basil's attitude was completely different.
Direct and bold.
"Professor, what are the key points of a Killing Curse?"
"What do you need to curse someone, and what's the best way?"
"Will a bald head and no nose increase power?"
"Can you teach us some useful evil curses? Poison curses are fine too, if you don't mind."
Faced with these questions, even Hermione, who was as indulgent as ever towards Basil, couldn't help but advise him that he was going a bit too far.
But Quirrell showed no emotion.
He didn't deduct any points
. He either avoided the questions
or pretended not to understand.
He did, however, have a recommendation for the final evil curse.
A curse popular at Hogwarts in the 1970s.
Like the Clear Water Curse, it's named after its incantation, the Tongue-Locking Curse.
The incantation is [Tongue-Locking Curse],
which glues a person's tongue to the roof of their mouth, rendering them unable to speak.
It works well against wizards who don't know the Silent Curse.
It's even better than the
Tongue-Stopping Curse, which only causes the tongue to curl and the person to stutter.
It's also effective against taunts, just as Apparition cannot be used inside the castle, Animagus cannot change forms.
["He didn't shapeshift!" Snape roared, his voice very close. "Inside the castle,
no one can shapeshift or revert! This...is...related to... Potter!"]
Here, "he" refers to Sirius Black.
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(End of Chapter)