days at Hogwarts

Chapter 688 Boggarts and Dementors

After getting up early in the morning and having breakfast with Hermione, Loren did not stay in the auditorium like other students waiting for the second class. They had agreed with Professor McGonagall last week.

Hermione went upstairs to see Professor Bubbage to revise her article for publication, while Loren strolled to the eighth floor and watched for a few minutes as Barnabas taught the troll ballet. He walked back and forth three times on the wall opposite the tapestry, thinking of a room similar to the Potions classroom. He waited for the smooth wooden door to appear on the wall, then pushed it open and walked into the Room of Requirement.

A chandelier hung from the ceiling, and the flickering candles illuminated the entire room. In the middle of the classroom were neatly arranged workbenches, and various specimens were placed on the display shelves on the surrounding walls. In the front and back were several old lockers, which contained some common potion materials.

Loren ignored the ingredients. He came here today not to brew any potion, but to do an interesting experiment.

Walking straight to the operating table that the professor usually used, Loren touched the pendant with his finger and took out two objects, one was a wooden box covered with black cloth, and the other was a black stone with a smooth surface.

As if sensing the changes in the external space, the box covered with black cloth began to sway slightly on the table, and a dull and clear knocking sound came from inside, as if bony fingers were knocking on a wooden door, exuding a faint eerie and ominous feeling.

If Loren didn't know that the box contained a Boggart, he would probably think that some kind of living creature was hiding inside.

A few years ago, Loren commissioned Professor Lupin to purchase a batch of Boggarts for research, and made some progress in Occlumency, Legilimency, False Memory Charms and emotional control. Loren was even able to manipulate Boggarts with the help of detached memories and emotions, so this batch of Boggarts was used as teaching aids for teaching the Patronus Charm...

There were no further breakthroughs in subsequent research, and the project came to a standstill and was abandoned, and the Bogut has remained in the box ever since.

The black stone is the Soul Stone. When the third grade students were returning to school on the Hogwarts Express, a patrolling Dementor broke into the carriage and was swallowed by Loren's Patronus, turning into the Soul Stone. This is the second one. The first one was melted into Mary's mirror. It was originally just a small stone, but it became a little bigger after absorbing Wormtail's soul.

"A Dementor is a hollow spirit without a body, and a Boggart is an empty shell without a soul, which means..."

There was a strange gleam in Loren's eyes. As he pulled off the black cloth on the outside of the wooden box, the Boggart in the box became more and more agitated. Gray and dim magic seeped out through the box, exploring fear everywhere like a tentacle.

But the mastery of Occlumency rendered it useless.

Loren undid the metal latch on the box, grasped the handle and pushed upwards slightly, trying to open the lid, but the Boggart, unaware of the fear, had no intention of showing up. The box, which had been vibrating just now, was now tightly closed, and the Boggart inside seemed ashamed to see people.

"..."

Loren was somewhat helpless. He quickly adjusted his tightly guarded brain closure technique, wove a memory of fear of slugs in his mind, and took the initiative to contact the magical gray mist that was dissipating everywhere.

With a click, the tightly closed box opened, and a lazy bug huddled inside the box.

The slug, scientifically known as Slug, belongs to the class Gastropoda, order Stylophora, family Slugidae. Thanks to the comprehensive and detailed image data in Loren's mind, this slug is jade white all over, has no sticky and disgusting mucus, and no unpleasant smell. The two tentacles slowly swinging together even look a bit cute.

Sensing fear, the Slug Boggart raised its head slightly, stared with its two tentacles at the huge creature outside the box, and crawled towards him slowly and steadily.

Facing the slug's pursuit, Loren appeared calm on the surface, but as the Bogut's magic gray fog probed him, his fear grew stronger and stronger. The Bogut seemed to be encouraged by the feedback and quickened its pace of pursuit.

Loren picked up the black stone on the table and rubbed it lightly with his fingers. It felt cold and icy. The weak but ominous magic began to become active, trying to absorb some fresh emotions.

Loren did not use the Patronus Charm to intervene. He placed the black stone in front of the slug that the Boggart had transformed into, and watched the slug's movements with great anticipation. "..."

The slug's tentacles first touched the stone, and the two tentacles immediately retracted. The brain of the low-level creature could not recognize what this thing was, and its biological instinct made it hesitate for a moment, and it slowly changed direction, crawled around the Soul Stone, and then continued to chase the behemoth outside the box.

Loren thought for a moment, then reached out and placed the stone in front of the Boggart again.

The slug seemed to have experience. This time it didn't even touch him and just changed direction.

"I don't believe it anymore."

This time, Loren directly picked up the stone to touch and provoke the slug. The stimulated slug curled up and secreted mucus from its body, leaving a wet mark on the Soul Stone.

After turning the wheels unwillingly several times, Loren finally accepted the reality and confirmed that there was no miraculous reaction when the two things came into contact. They were completely unrelated, just like Boggarts and Dementors had no fate.

"Yes, if such a miraculous change could happen so easily, the people who created Dementors and Boggarts should have thought of it... There are so many creative dark wizards in history, and I should not be the first one to combine Dementors with Boggarts..."

Loren muttered to himself, sat down on the chair, and took out the Soul Stone from the box and wiped it with disappointment.

The slug is still chasing relentlessly. Judging from its current speed, it will probably succeed in a few hundred years.

Looking at the round clock hanging on the wall, he realized that the Apparition class should be over and Hermione should have finished discussing her paper with Professor Bubbage. Loren sighed and prepared to pack up and leave. He shook the Soul Stone in his hand and looked at the transformed slug in the box. Suddenly, an idea emerged in his mind.

He used the black stone to poke the slugs, threw them into the box, closed the wooden lid, and fastened the metal latch...

Loren put the black cloth that blocked the Boggart's perception back on the box, cleared the memories of those fearful slugs, and restored the comprehensive brain occlusion technique. He didn't know what the point of doing this was, and there was no principle or theory to support it. He just wanted to try it on a whim, so he did it naturally.

After waiting for a moment, Loren pulled off the black cloth again, opened the metal latch, grasped the handle and lifted it up, trying to open the box.

I didn't feel any fear. The Boggart should have sealed the box and refused to show up. But what was unexpected, yet expected, was -

The box was opened.

There was a stone lying quietly inside.

It was still completely black, with a smooth surface that did not reflect light. However, there were a few messy scratches on the surface of the stone, like a child's graffiti, which simply but clearly revealed the image of the pattern:

It was a whale with its fins extended.

(End of this chapter)