Chapter 258: Pure-Bloods, Basilisks, and Muggles
Lockhart didn't bring many students on this trip just three. Besides his first apprentice, Crabbe, he also brought Cedric and Luna.
Sometimes he had to admit that things were volatile. After Dumbledore had completely branded Voldemort, Lockhart had to consider which students were not suitable to bring on this adventure.
He hadn't brought Draco and the other kids because he was afraid of making things difficult for their parents, like Lucius. He hadn't even greeted Snape, who often went on trips with him.
After all, he had built good relationships with many members of the Order of the Phoenix. And what's more, people were gradually starting to refer to Lockhart as a "third option" or a "third faction." As the saying goes, when people suspect you have something, you had better have it.
Lockhart didn't mind expanding his inner circle of apprentices. He planned to continue selecting suitable children to teach besides Crabbe and Percy.
He had set his sights on Luna a long time ago. She possessed a very high level of spiritualism. But "spiritualism" is a general term. Professor Trelawney's type of spiritualism is one kind, Newt's is another, and the forest witch's is yet another there are too many.
Even the cursing witches who cursed Snow White into Sleeping Beauty or princes into monsters or frogs follow a magical path that relies heavily on spiritualism.
Of course, the modern magical system provides another path: systematically studying Transfiguration. When you reach a very high level, you can also achieve these feats. The former path is suitable for Luna, while the latter is suitable for Hermione. This is the importance of teaching according to aptitude.
Lockhart hoped that by taking Luna on this adventure, he could better observe what kind of spiritual path was truly suitable for her.
The other student, Cedric, could be said to be the epitome of a "perfect student" in the eyes of his classmates and professors. During the Triwizard Tournament, most people at the school had no doubt that Cedric should be the Hogwarts champion.
Ultimately, Lockhart's selection criteria for students were twofold: either they had a natural inclination to enter the world of "Fairy Tale," or they had enough wisdom and a willingness to enter the world of "Fairy Tale."
Crabbe and Luna were the former; Percy and Cedric were the latter. The former required Lockhart to explore their qualities more and then teach them the magic that was right for them. The latter was simpler; he just had to provide them with opportunities for a "Fairy Tale adventure."
Traveling across continents with a Portkey, they quickly arrived at the Magical Congress of the United States. After registering their wands, they used the concealment abilities of the Sack-Cloak to quickly disappear from the view of some intentional and unintentional eyes.
Indiana, a certain unknown farm, late at night. A group of people dressed in robes similar to wizard robes but slightly different, holding neat logs, walked with a devout expression up the stone steps to a fire pit in the center of a circular altar at the top. They threw the logs in.
Then they knelt on the ground and prayed sincerely.
Near the front of the fire pit was a prayer platform with a snake-like sculpture. Corban Yaxley was kneeling on the platform, reporting the information he had investigated during this time to the flames.
In the flames, a huge, three-meter-tall head faintly appeared, looking down at Corban. "I need you to give me a definitive answer!"
Corban's face was a little flustered. "Master, we used Veritaserum to interrogate the Scourers we were working with. We did not get any indication that they were being guided by someone."
"Fool!" Voldemort roared in a rage. "Did that inexplicable Muggle movie just pop out of nowhere?"
Corban was trembling. "I have already punished that Muggle merchant from the Scourers who dared to do such a thing."
"I am very disappointed in you, Corban," Voldemort said with disdain, looking at the Muggle descendants of the Scourers who were kneeling on the ground. These Muggles couldn't even hear him and Corban talking, nor could they see his figure in the flames. "Since you suggested coming to North America, you've accomplished nothing."
Old Voldy was completely disgusted by this matter. This disgust did not come from the public outcry that had been created after Dumbledore's declaration of war, painting him as an enemy of the world. He was a very arrogant person and couldn't care less about that.
What disgusted him was that he was a "pure-blood supremacist," but he had been branded as a collaborator with Muggles. How could he stand for that? He really couldn't bear it.
Just as Lockhart's book, Lord Voldemort: A Pure-Blood Supremacist with a Muggle Father?, had described, when Tom went from the Muggle world to the wizarding world and truly began to feel his innate magical talents, he began to firmly believe in the insurmountable chasm between wizards and Muggles, and between wizards themselves.
What chasm? Parseltongue! Dark magic talent!
Voldemort, with the blood of Slytherin, was born with Parseltongue and clearly knew that he was naturally destined to be the top wizard. Just ask, is it easier for Dumbledore's family's "Phoenix Affinity" to find a phoenix, or is it easier for them, with "Parseltongue," to find a snake?
There are thousands of types of snakes, scattered in every corner of the world. He could find a large group of the most loyal followers at any time. These snakes were sometimes even more useful than humans, not to mention the powerful creatures like Basilisks that he could continuously breed.
Snakes are also a symbol of witchcraft, a symbol of mystery, and a symbol of bad omens. And so, with the trinity of bloodline theory, talent theory, and destiny theory, his ambition was no longer suppressed. He naturally believed that he was the one who should rule over everything.
He didn't divide humans into different classes for profit. He was born with the belief that wizards with magical abilities should be naturally nobler than Muggles, and pure-blood families with innate talents should be naturally nobler than ordinary wizards. This is what "pure-blood supremacy" meant.
"He holds up pure-blood supremacy, and his own interests are always his only focus. In his eyes, these two things are always the same thing." Lockhart knew him all too well.
So, Dumbledore branding him as a Muggle collaborator completely disgusted him.
But why did he want to laugh so much? "Heh heh heh—"
His laughter was harsh and filled with malice as it came from the flames. "I don't know who is behind this, but this person is also targeting Dumbledore!"
"Huh?" Corban didn't understand.
"He forced Dumbledore to pit wizards and Muggles against each other. This was originally a very stupid thing to do." Voldemort sneered. Corban was even more confused. "Isn't it like that? Wizards and Muggles?"
"Fool!!!!" Voldemort was furious, looking at the stupid thing kneeling in front of the altar in disbelief. "You were one of the first people to join me, a member of the Knights of Walpurgis, and you're talking to me about wizards and Muggles?"
Corban's face was a tangled mess. He didn't know what to say, so he just tried his best to put on a flattering expression, as if to say, "Master, even though I'm a little stupid, at least I'm loyal."
Voldemort looked at him coldly and shook his head. "Pure-blood supremacy, understand, fool? Only pure-blood wizards are the most noble. Other ordinary wizards? In my eyes, they are no different from half-human magical creatures. They are no different from Muggles who understand some technology!"
How could his earliest followers have such a foolish cognitive dissonance problem? The Dumbledore of the past clearly didn't have this either, because Dumbledore had always firmly believed that Muggles and wizards were one and the same—the same kind of people.
So, someone was pushing the situation, making Dumbledore so hot-headed? A wizard traitor? A wizard spy? While laying this charge at his feet, it was also invisibly severing the connection between wizards and Muggles, so clearly splitting what was originally a single entity into two groups.
Brilliant.
Voldemort didn't know who was so clever and who understood Dumbledore so well.
"I hope you don't disappoint me again, Corban. You should show your worth."
This was the most serious admonishment, because worthless garbage would be thrown in the trash by Voldemort. Corban was filled with fear and nodded frantically, showing his loyalty.
"Remember, cultivate Basilisks. The temporal power of your Yaxley family's magical bloodline is most suitable. You must make good use of this power!"
Voldemort could never forget how Lockhart had stolen his Parseltongue magical bloodline from the magic of time, and how he had then traced it back along the river of time to an even deeper level.
"You are a pure-blood wizard. Remember your pride!"
Voldemort stared deeply at Corban, and with a rising flame, he completely disappeared.
Corban waited until there was no magical power left in the flames before he stood up. He looked at the "Muggles" who were kneeling all around him, a hint of arrogance on his face. "I have already prayed to the gods. If you want to awaken the magical power in your bloodline, you must prove your worth to our great Lord!"
"Praise the Lord!" The Muggles looked excited and praised him in unison.
In fact, these were not the most pure Muggles. The first wizards to come to North America from Europe formed the Scourers organization. It had always been a mercenary-like wizarding organization, but as the situation changed, the Scourers began to intermarry with Muggles on a large scale. They kept sending away the descendants who had magical outbursts and became wizards, only leaving the Squibs.
Then, for generations, they continued to intermarry with Muggles, leaving only descendants who had no spell-casting abilities. Eventually, they washed their organization into the purest Muggle organization, completely hiding themselves within this country that was growing more and more powerful with each passing day, and continuously drawing on the power of Muggle technology.
But it was just as the saying goes—"If I had never seen the light, I would be able to endure the darkness." Whether it was their wizard relatives they were secretly sponsoring and cultivating, or the wizards they had come into contact with, it was enough for them to feel how wonderful the power of magic was.
And so, they also began to desire magic. It was hard not to. It was magic!
The most crucial thing was that they were also the descendants of wizards! Even though their bloodline was thinning, they still had the blood of wizards in their bodies, and this was what was making them so feverish.
Some people had seen this hidden desire, and so when Corban arrived here, the Scourers quickly became Voldemort's most loyal followers. This loyalty came from their desire for a magical bloodline.
The mysterious Lord said that as long as they honestly cultivated an army of Basilisks, they would have the opportunity to be given the ability to awaken their magical bloodline. And he also required their families, including the youngest descendants, to participate in this plan and personally be responsible for every step.
"Go, do what you are supposed to do!"
Corban Yaxley looked at these Muggles with an indifferent expression, sneering in his heart. He knew that these people had no chance. Even for a wizard, if they didn't awaken their magical powers as a child, they would never have that possibility in their lifetime. This was something every wizard knew. Even pure-blood families had Squibs, and for hundreds or thousands of years, so many pure-blood wizards had tried to solve this problem, but they still had no solution.
These... Heh, they were just consumables.
He looked up. This farm was different from when he had first come to North America. Cultivation labs were rising up one after another, and each one represented the possibility of a Basilisk being conceived.
What a future full of hope this was. Aurors? The wizarding army? How could they possibly contend with an army of Basilisks!
The Master was right. The existence of wizards was only to ensure the continuation of the pure-blood wizard lineage. Only pure-blood wizards should be at the peak of this world. Only a Parselmouth like the Master had the ability to command an army that could sweep everything away. Not even Dumbledore had that ability!
And this required time. He had to be patient enough.
Breeding a Basilisk was not difficult. Many dark wizards could do it. The reason there were so few Basilisks in history was simply because there were too few top-tier pure-blood wizards like the Master who could command them.
After checking everything, Corban Yaxley went to the altar, jumped into the fire pit, and completely disappeared from the terrified eyes of the Muggles around him.
In fact, this was just a local Floo Network fireplace. The British Ministry of Magic's Floo Network was originally built with the magical power provided by the Yaxley family. This was something many people had already forgotten.