"I'm terribly sorry, Newt—"

Nicolas Flamel sighed softly, shaking his head slowly, a deep apology etched on his face.

"As you know, just a few months ago, I already, in the company of the Ministry of Magic, the Confederation, and Dumbledore, completely destroyed the last remaining Philosopher's Stone. Even if I accept this invitation, I won't be able to last for very long…"

The human body has its limits. As an echo of centuries past, his life has long been tied to the Elixir of Life. With the destruction of the Philosopher's Stone, the potion he has left is only enough to sustain him for less than three months at most.

Three months is simply too rushed for anything.

"Actually, we've already considered that in advance for you."

However, before Nicolas Flamel could finish speaking, Newt Scamander gently shook his head, interrupting the old man.

Then, the Magizoologist, one of SCP's O5 members, took a deep breath, extended his left hand, and took out a delicate silk pouch from his pocket, solemnly placing it on the old wizard's desk.

Click.

A mesmerizing red light pierced through the opening of the silk pouch, reflecting in Nicolas Flamel's eyes.

"Then, what if we add this?"

"This—this is…"

Nicolas Flamel's eyes widened, turning to Newt in disbelief.

"This is Paracelsus's Philosopher's Stone, Mr. Flamel. There's more than one Philosopher's Stone in this world. If you don't mind, Mr. Paracelsus is willing to lend it to you temporarily."

Newt Scamander shrugged, looking at Flamel with a calm expression, and asked softly.

"So, what is your decision now…?"

"I see. So Paracelsus is still alive, an unexpected piece of news. Judging from this, he must have obtained a number, right? It's becoming increasingly frightening—"

Without continuing to focus on the Philosopher's Stone that countless people in the wizarding world yearn for, Nicolas Flamel shook his head, letting out a meaningful sigh, picking up the exquisitely crafted metal badge and slowly caressing it in his hand.

Goblin craftsmanship, extremely delicate magical processing, but the shaping of the exterior retains a trace of rough Muggle machine tool marks…

Rather than being an emblem that will show his identity in the future, it is more like a self-introduction of "it".

"…You've given me quite a difficult problem."

Nicolas Flamel gave a wry smile, looking helplessly at Newt Scamander. Even Paracelsus, who had been reclusive for so many years, had been dug out. As one of Dumbledore's partners, Flamel naturally knew the other party's determination.

"But I still don't understand, why does it have to be me?"

"Because—" Newt shook his head, saying with a complicated tone, "You are a true 'Magician', a human wizard in the true sense of the word. We need your wisdom and experience. There is no one else more suitable than you."

A true, Magician?

This statement sounds like…

Nicolas Flamel's brow furrowed slightly, turning his face to the side, his gaze unconsciously falling on the Hogwarts letter on the table, which he had already read many times—a human…wizard?

"Then, one last question, Scamander…"

Nicolas Flamel shook his head, temporarily suppressing the confusion in his heart, and turned to look at Newt.

"If I am [05-1: Magician], then what should I call you? And what are the numbers and codenames of the other members besides you? At least Dumbledore and you should each have your own numbers, right?"

"Me…"

Newt Scamander touched his nose, his eyes unconsciously dodging Nicolas's gaze, "I am O5-3, as for the codename, it doesn't matter…"

…

"Humanity has been around for nearly three million years, but only the last four thousand years have been meaningful…"

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a classroom located on the third floor of the castle.

Gilderoy Lockhart stood on the platform, his eyes slowly scanning the young wizards in the classroom, a green robe draped over his body, his handsome face full of seriousness and earnestness, without the playful look on the book cover.

Unlike the "Squib professor" of the previous class, Lockhart's deterrence to the students was obviously much greater.

As the castle's class bell rang, Gilderoy Lockhart strode into the classroom, and as he walked forward, he drew his wand and waved it crisply to the side, the curtains on the left side of the classroom quickly falling in succession, making a swishing sound.

In less than ten seconds, the entire classroom was completely enveloped in an atmosphere of mystery.

Without any opening introductions, Lockhart cleared his throat and went straight into his first lesson.

"So, what were we doing during those millions of years?"

Under the tense gaze of a group of young wizards, Gilderoy Lockhart lowered his voice, like a prophet by an ancient fire.

"We hid in caves, sat around small bonfires, fearing the things we didn't understand—the explanations of how the sun rises, the human-headed bird-bodied monsters, the living stones. Ignorant prehistoric Muggles called them 'gods' and 'demons' and begged them for forgiveness and prayed for salvation…"

"Unfortunately, redemption and salvation did not come—therefore, wizards appeared."

"We drove out the harpies, we learned how to command those moving stones…

"After that, their numbers decreased, and our numbers increased. Humans feared fewer and fewer things, and ordinary people finally had a chance to breathe, able to look at the world from the perspective of so-called 'reason'."

"However, the world has never changed… Magic and things that magic cannot understand have always existed."

"If we don't want to return to that terrifying era, then wizards cannot stand still. Nothing can protect us. We are the blade and shield of human civilization. We must learn how to continue the flame and protect ourselves."

"Because of this, while those with limited talents live in the sunlight, a group of the most elite wizards have been confronting the world's incredible things in the shadows, preventing them from being exposed to the public eye, so that others—whether wizards or Muggles—can live in a peaceful, rational, and safe world."

"And I, Gilderoy Lockhart."

Gilderoy Lockhart drew his wand and waved it quickly in the air.

With his movement, all the shutters around the classroom were instantly raised, and bright sunlight re-entered the spacious classroom through the windows. A series of flowery letters sparkling with purple sparks swooshed and appeared in the air.

"Order of Merlin, Third Class, Order of Merlin, Second Class, Honorary Member of the Anti-Dark Forces League, five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award, well-known best-selling author, a 'wiB (Wizard in Black)' who has worked hard in the past, present, and future to protect the world—of course, this is not distinguished by the color of clothing."

He paused slightly, waiting for the young wizards in the classroom to digest what he had just said.

The expressions of the whole class were a little dazed at this time. Hermione Granger had a tight little face, listening intently to Gilderoy Lockhart's opening remarks, which undoubtedly put equally great pressure on the young wizard standing on the platform.

Undoubtedly, judging from the current situation in the classroom, the effect may be a little too good.

If this whole passage was thought out by Lockhart himself, it would be fine, but the most important thing is that the compiler of the above content is sitting right in front of the classroom, staring at him with a smile, her angelic face flashing with frighteningly innocent smiles, her fingers lightly tapping on the table, obviously already a little impatient.

"Okay, now, let's get back to the main topic…"

Gilderoy Lockhart's expression straightened, quickly giving up the idea of making a few witty jokes.

He quickly waved his left hand, without hesitation dispelling the somewhat fancy introduction in the air, cleared his throat, looked around at the young wizards in the classroom with different expressions, and said in a serious tone.

"Of course, the above content will not appear as test points. Personally, I don't want to see you put your energy into studying my personal past adventures. Don't expect me to treat a certain student differently because someone remembers my hobbies. My identity here is just a professor, nothing more."

"Hmm?" Elena raised her eyebrows slightly, making an noncommittal nasal sound.

The sound was very soft, only Lockhart and a few of the little witches in the front row could hear it.

However, compared to the clueless Hermione and Hannah, this soft nasal sound sounded to Gilderoy Lockhart like a thunderclap. As one of the earliest batches of wizards to be "recruited," he knew very well what this meant.

This silver-haired demon queen had made a similar playful sound when she was preparing to deal with Peter Pettigrew.

And the worst thing was that Lockhart had no idea where he had offended Her Majesty. If they were alone, he could ask directly, but in a classroom with so many young wizards, Gilderoy Lockhart could only continue to teach according to the lesson plan he had previously reviewed and revised by Elena, biting the bullet.

"Ahem—"

Lockhart cleared his throat again, adjusting his posture, trying to make himself look more serious and earnest.

Although he didn't know what was wrong for the time being, according to Mr. Kurt's advice, it was always right to be more serious when serving these dark lords—especially when carrying out the demon lord's mission, it was even more important to remember to maintain dignity.

"Now, let's turn our attention back slightly and focus on this lesson. Professor Dumbledore invited me to teach at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, of course, not simply hoping that I would teach everyone how to write and read. The meaning of language and literature is to record and transmit the footprints of our human civilization in history."

"Please note! This course is not a history class! My task is to teach you how to correctly interpret words, and how to correctly and accurately express your own 'voice'. As wizards, this is a very important ability."

"But remember, although I am the professor of this class, it does not mean that everything I say is right. I am just teaching you a way of thinking, a perspective of looking at things. The content that appears in books is not necessarily reliable. I hope you can learn to look at things dialectically in the future, instead of blindly believing in books."

"In fact…"

Gilderoy Lockhart took a deep breath, stepped off the platform, and, amidst Elena's increasingly strange gaze, casually picked up "Traveling with Trolls" that Hermione Granger had deliberately placed by her hand, and said generously.

"For example, this book may seem to you to be a respectable adventure full of romance and legend. But I have to regretfully say that many parts of the book have been artistically processed—beautiful yearning is the emotion that is farthest from understanding and the truth. I only ask you to remain objective and rational."

Lockhart's gaze passed over Elena's head, trying not to look into Elena's eyes.

The young language professor's gaze swept over the other young wizards in the classroom, and his voice gradually became confident and stable.

"Expression is human nature. People want their voices to be heard and their views to be recognized. How to reasonably express your thoughts and correctly listen to other people's voices in the modified and incomplete information is particularly important."

Since coming into contact with other wizards of destiny and participating in several large transnational secret projects, Gilderoy Lockhart's vision has been greatly broadened. Those "beautiful" experiences in the past have long become nightmare-like black histories.

Fortunately, as a wizard, Lockhart is still quite young at this time.

Just as Albus Dumbledore suggested, instead of letting those meaningless "false experiences" continue to bind his life, it is better to take this opportunity to peel off those bad pasts little by little and rewrite life.

"Okay, everyone, please turn to your reference textbook, 'Traveling with Trolls'…"

Lockhart raised his right hand, showing the book in his hand, indicating that everyone should take out the book from the pile.

"In this lesson, I will first explain the real story to everyone, and then tell you what rhetorical devices and expressions we should use to process the story if we want to make it look good."

"Now, under my guidance, let's all read the first section of the first volume together…"

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Chapter 2! Another big chapter!!