Chapter 19: Forest Witch
Lockhart's entire body suddenly stiffened, unable to move at all. His eyeballs darted rapidly in their sockets, the muscles in his face alternately tensing and relaxing, making him look extremely strange.
The silvery threads of memory floating in mid-air finally drew closer, but just as they were about to make contact, they suddenly changed direction, each drifting around the office before finally circling above the Pensieve, gathering into a ball of silvery yarn.
The memory couldn't find the master who had just cast the spell on it!
Yes!
Lockhart discovered with extreme horror that the last remaining memory belonging to a powerful wizard in his mind was rapidly taking over his body.
This memory, imbued with magic, was immeasurably more powerful than a Muggle's ordinary memory, a Muggle's soul!
He cursed inwardly, and his thoughts quickly plunged into complete darkness.
The office instantly fell into an indescribable deathly silence.
"Goo-jee?"
The little Goldie, who had been playing with the magical eye, called out in confusion, unsure if this was the unexpected situation its master had just instructed it about.
Should it intervene now?
With a flip of its little paw, the magical eye disappeared from its grasp. It climbed up the coat rack with both hands and feet, reaching a position level with Lockhart's head, and looked at its master's eyes in confusion.
However, all it saw was an unfamiliar glint.
"Goo-jee?"
It tilted its head in some bewilderment.
Just as it was uncertain, its master finally moved.
"Who am I?" Standing beside the Pensieve, Lockhart walked a few steps around the office in confusion, looking around. "And where is this?"
His movements looked completely different from the elegant Lockhart. He seemed more like a witch, and the hand holding the wand habitually had the little finger curled.
Shaking his feet, he very uncomfortably kicked off his shoes and stood barefoot in the office, looking so alert.
Then he quickly waved his wand.
A vibrant green light burst forth from the wand, transforming into a brilliant streamer in mid-air, constantly moving around the office.
In just an instant, the large oak table in the center of the office suddenly began to sprout buds, growing rapidly, unfurling tender green leaves, segment by segment, quickly growing upwards. The trunk became as thick as an arm in a very short time, reaching the ceiling and then quickly winding to the side, sprouting forked branches.
It wasn't just the oak table.
The old mahogany cabinet, the high-backed chair made of Phoebe zhennan wood, the teak bookshelf, and even the red, peeling wooden box containing the Boggart sprouted branches, clearly becoming a peach tree.
This peach tree grew wildly, reaching the birdcage containing the Cornish pixies. The thick branches quickly pried open the gaps in the birdcage, allowing the Cornish pixies to escape.
These pixies went mad and were about to wreak havoc in the office.
"Humph, you nasty little pixies!"
'Lockhart' called out angrily, "In my forest, I won't allow you to cause trouble!"
As 'he' spoke, the wand in 'his' hand lightly tapped, and suddenly one of the dried fruits in the fruit bowl on the table split open, growing a large number of vines and tendrils.
These vines grew so quickly, like a large hand raised high into the air. The extending long tendrils instantly bound the pixies, grabbing them tightly like claws.
Then, the vines curled up, and the long branches, shaped like long snakes, coiled around the oak branches, hanging the struggling Cornish pixies there like wind chimes.
This was one of the dozen or so powerful wizards Lockhart had hunted in the past, the "Forest Witch" from the Amazon rainforest, a witch who had been abandoned as a child and raised by gray wolves.
The true owner of the wisdom in the bestselling books Wanderings with Werewolves and Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests.
Dealing with this witch was simple. Lockhart's handsome face and plenty of alcohol quickly intoxicated the witch.
She was at his mercy.
Using one's appearance as a means was a common tactic among dark wizards, and even a common method for many dark magical creatures. For example, the dark magical creature Banshee would often transform into a beautiful witch to lure victims, and Voldemort also used his handsome appearance to attract wealthy women when he was young.
...
The witch was clearly satisfied with the effect of her spell, tiptoeing with her hands behind her back, strolling through the "forest" that gave her a sense of security, wanting to figure out where she was.
And who exactly was she?
After all, she only had a small fragment of memory, which was not enough to build a complete personality for her.
After all, although the original Lockhart was greedy and foolish, he only stole memories of adventures and knowledge, and did not unscrupulously empty and devour other people's memories. It was impossible for him to build a complete personality in his head.
Now that this memory was controlling his body to cast spells, it was less the witch's behavior and more this memory imitating the Forest Witch's way of acting.
The witch strolled through the "forest" and soon encountered danger.
A pair of eyes hidden in the thick leaves of a large tree.
This was nothing; she could always easily deal with these unexpected events.
However, she miscalculated.
Before she could make the slightest reaction, an extremely terrifying sense of fear rapidly spread from her heart, instantly filling all the thoughts in her head.
She was as if frightened by some "indescribable" thing, motionless, her whole body stiff, dumbfounded, her brain so sluggish that her thoughts stopped.
Yet her senses were so clear, clearly feeling a pair of furry little hands forcefully prying open her head.
The monster blinked its splintered golden eyes, looking so fascinated at the deep blue eyeballs in her eye sockets.
However, the monster seemed to hesitate, struggling for a while, and finally removed its furry little hands from her eye sockets, only prying open her head to drag her to another place.
Where to go?
She didn't know.
The monster wasn't very strong, and it took almost all its strength to drag her behind a peach tree.
There, a Boggart was shivering in a tree hole, seemingly also afraid of this furry little monster, loudly muttering, "Don't notice me, don't notice me!"
Behind the peach tree was a large crystal basin made from a bird's skull. The furry little monster laboriously stuffed her head into it.
After waiting for a while, it seemed that nothing happened.
"Goo-jee?"
The little monster seemed somewhat confused.
After a while longer, her body was laboriously dragged again, coming above the crystal skull, and soon she was immersed in a cool and slippery silvery light.
The silvery light seemed to think, enveloping her head and shaking it, as if making a judgment.
As a memory belonging to her merged into her head, these silvery lights, as if summoned, all frantically surged into her head.
Was she going to return to normal?
Was she going to remember who she was?
No!
She wasn't.
She only felt a darkness before her eyes, completely losing the ability to think.
A full ten minutes or so passed.
"Hoo~~~~"
Lockhart let out a long breath, his legs went weak, and he sat down on a slanting tree trunk behind him, panting heavily as if he had just escaped a great disaster.
"Goo-jee~~~"
The little Goldie jumped into his arms excitedly, recognizing that this was its master.
"Good boy~" Lockhart gratefully stroked its little head, making it purr contentedly.
He twisted his neck and suddenly sucked in a breath of cold air in pain. When the little Goldie moved his body just now, its little claws had scratched a lot of wounds on his neck.
But it wasn't a big problem.
He gently raised his wand towards the tree trunk above, reciting the spell belonging to the "Forest Witch," "Kind blossoms, heal the wounds!"
Instantly, a purple flower suddenly grew on the tree trunk. The petals were delicate and beautiful, the fragrance was intoxicating, and there seemed to be viscous honey dripping from the stamen, just dripping into his open mouth.
In just an instant, all the small wounds on his body healed, and a larger wound also turned into a shallow scratch.
"See, it wasn't without gain, was it?"
Lockhart's expression looked so surprised and delighted.
Although he hadn't unleashed the true power of this magic, he could finally cast magic!
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