HP: The Root of Everything - The Magician

Lockhart wakes up at St. Mungo's Hospital.

The first thing he did after waking up was to look for Ginny Weasley. He clearly saw Lucius put the Horcrux notebook in Ginny's books, and he also saw the Horcrux notebook on Ginny's desk during the winter school season. It was impossible for him not to remember it.

[Could it be that someone else has also set their sights on the notebook and cast a forgetting spell on Ginny?] Lockhart could only think of it that way.

Then, Lockhart remembered the nunchaku circle in Ginny's hand that had sent him flying, which led him to suspect that Teach Carl had taken the Horcrux notebook.

Although Lockhart's conjecture was wrong, the result was correct.

Despite still feeling a bit dizzy, Lockhart insisted on leaving the hospital despite the doctor's attempts to stop him, wanting to find Teach Carl to get the details.

Teach, an unofficial professor, doesn't teach classes and spends most of his free time researching magic in his office, so he's easy to find.

Lockhart straightened his clothes outside the door to make himself look normal, then composed himself with a formulaic, perfect smile before finally knocking on Teach's office door.

Teach was disturbed by the knocking and naturally assumed it was a young wizard who wanted to ask about magic, so he didn't use the alchemy circle to check who it was beforehand.

When the door opened, Lockhart barged into the magic office uninvited, before Teach could even say he was being refused entry. This aroused a hint of murderous intent in Teach's heart, making him very displeased.

After Lockhart entered, his eyes quickly and discreetly scanned the books in Teach's office. At the same time, in order to avoid being kicked out, he also took the time to chat with Teach about his literary works in a familiar manner.

But Teach ignored him and instead, clearly wanting to fight, angrily and coldly said to Lockhart, "Giddro Lockhart, what are you trying to do by barging into my office?"

"Want to hit on me and chat about everyday things?"

"Give me a reasonable explanation, or don't blame me for being impolite. Even if Headmaster Dumbledore came, he couldn't stop you from lying in a hospital bed for a month."

Lockhart's mind was now entirely focused on searching the Horcrux notebook with his eyes, ignoring the murderous intent in Teach's words. After scanning the area twice without finding the notebook, he used a lie to cover his purpose: "Oh, Professor Teach Carr, it's like this, some of my students want to ask you about magic, but they're young and a bit shy, so they asked me, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, to ask you for help."

After giving this excuse, Lockhart sighed in frustration, "Alas, it seems Professor Carl, you hold a deep grudge against me. In that case, I can only disappoint my students."

"Sorry to bother you, please continue with your work."

After saying that, Lockhart casually brushed past Teach and left the magic office.

Teach Carr watched Lockhart's departing figure intently. After closing the door, he activated a monitoring array in the magic workshop. The image projected by the array showed that Lockhart's formulaic smile vanished instantly after he left, replaced by a gloomy and distressed expression, as if he had lost something extremely important and was filled with suppressed anger.

After deactivating the surveillance array, Teach sat down at his desk, put down his glasses, and began to ponder: [Is Lockhart looking for something?]

"I think I lost something last night; Tom Riddle's Horcrux notebook is missing."

Does that mean the laptop can really grow legs and run away?

After all... it seems... mature mandala grass can grow legs and run away on its own.

Teach Carl didn't delve too deeply into this matter. Whether the Horcrux notebook was in his possession or not was irrelevant; what mattered was that the door to the secret chamber could be opened.

......

My laptop is gone; all hope is lost.

Lockhart descended into a state of furious madness in his office, his fear of being exposed by the world rising again from the depths of his heart, overwhelming him like a flood.

And so Lockhart locked himself in his office and began to question his incompetent life.

But life goes on, and Lockhart can't afford to die from the loss of hope in the Horcrux Notebook.

So a week later, Lockhart adjusted his mindset and went to class with a smile. This class was Defense Against the Dark Arts for second-year young wizards like Harry Potter.

By this time, Lockhart had given up on his pursuit of the Horcruxes and decided to continue deceiving his fans who believed in him, diligently using the Oblivion Charm to steal the memories of other wizards in order to continue his intoxicating life filled with wealth and fame.

Life is too short. Even if a wizard can live for two hundred years thanks to the nourishment of natural magic, that time is still too short.

Therefore, Lockhart wanted to enjoy life while he could, and after serving as the Defense Professor for a year, he immediately packed his bags and left.

But fate has a way of playing tricks on people.

The Horcrux notebook appeared, right before his eyes.

As Lockhart saw it, the notebook was sitting securely to Hermione Granger's left.

At that moment, Lockhart, whose emotions had been in turmoil, cried... He covered his face and wept bitterly in front of the second-year wizards in the classroom.

With the comfort of some fans and students, Lockhart wiped away her tears and smiled at the students, saying, "It's okay, really it's okay. Can't you see how happy I am?"

After calming the students down, Lockhart suppressed his excitement and calmly approached Hermione Granger. He wanted to confirm up close that the Horcrux notebook he saw was not a hallucination caused by excessive desire.

Confirmed, it's true.

Lockhart then looked at Hermione, who was drawing an extremely complex and dazzling transmutation circle on a piece of parchment with exceptional seriousness.

Lockhart couldn't understand the array, so after glancing at it, he returned to the podium, pondering how to get the Horcrux notebook from Hermione Granger.

Lockhart, of course, couldn't understand the transmutation circle Hermione had drawn, and Teach Carr would have been utterly astonished if he were here... because Hermione had completed her own unique 'analysis transmutation circle'.

On the parchment just now, Hermione Granger completed her alchemy array for analyzing the "structure of inanimate objects" and the "life" side of the "cells of living things".

This means that Hermione is now qualified to become a true 'magician'.

The completion of this analytical alchemy array laid a solid magical foundation for Hermione's magical path. By continuing her research along this foundation, Hermione can awaken her 'origin magic' as a magician.

This... how could it not surprise Teach Carl for his protégé Hermione?

At the same time, Tommy Riddle, who was in the notebook next to him, was also excited, extremely excited, and laughed wildly with excitement.

Hermione's 'Life Analysis Transformation Array' will be the key to his obtaining a living body and rebirth.

But how does Tommy Riddle now obtain this Life Analysis Alchemy Formation?

It's important to know that Hermione didn't inscribe the analysis of the transmutation circle she just completed on the Horcrux notebook; instead, she drew it on a piece of ordinary parchment.

Hermione Granger has thoroughly studied the magic knowledge taught by Teach Carr, and her materialistic ideology has been formed and solidified, which Tom cannot sway with his word games.

It was not something that could be corrupted by the dark magic power overflowing from his remnant soul.

Hermione took the Horcrux notebook from Teach's office because Tom Riddle had set it with a seductive ability, but more so because she was shy about wanting to own one of Teach Cal's items. She kept it with her because of her strange curiosity about how the notebook could absorb and communicate with text.

Tommy Riddle frantically scratched his head in his notebook, clutching his scalp in a grimace of deep thought, staring longingly at the parchment on the table outside.

[What should I do? What should I do? How can I transfer the transmutation circle from that parchment to my Horcrux notebook?]

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

(This is already 100,000 words...)

The humble author earnestly requests that, after reading this far, our esteemed and extraordinary readers leave their comments, praising this book as more precious than gold.

A few simple words of positive feedback are crucial to the book's grade.

Your honest feedback is the driving force behind my continued progress in my writing journey, so... I'll give you a thumbs up for every comment I make while I'm writing!

[Finally~]

On Halloween night, the little author will send a cute, mature-looking witch to knock on your door, then, carrying a pumpkin lantern, to say to you...

Trick or treat!

[In the very end...]

The author is letting you in on a little secret: magic really does exist in this world, but the magical owl that delivered your acceptance letters wasn't familiar with our world, so it got lost.