Hogwarts Study Panel

Chapter 314: Analysis

In the forbidden forest, a giant snake opened its blood-red maw. Even without its eyes, the basilisk could hear the crackling sound of its food burning and smell its enticing aroma.

While it was feeding, Aragog disappeared into the depths of the Forbidden Forest, surrounded by some giant eight-eyed spiders.

Sheen didn't pay much attention to it. He looked at the huge spider corpses on the ground and collected some potion ingredients along the way.

In just one night, the population of the Forbidden Forest Giant Spiders was reduced by at least half.

Surprisingly, only a third of them were related to Sheen, while the rest ended up in the belly of the basilisk.

As the basilisk unleashed its brutal nature within the horde of giant eight-eyed spiders, the control panel kept beeping:

[You have gained the favor of the magical creature Basilisk by using your expert standards. Affinity +50]

[You have gained the favor of the magical creature Basilisk by using your expert standards. Affinity +50]

Sheen silently sensed the basilisk's affection and malice, while moonlight pierced through the partially burned canopy of the Forbidden Forest, scattering across the hollow.

For wizards, they must choose their faith; but for creatures imbued with dark magic, their faith is already predetermined…

It is tragic to be powerless to make a choice.

The story of the locked room has come to an end. What should be done with the basilisk?
……

Hope Cottage.

Everburning candles floated in the air, pumpkin lanterns hung, and the fireplace hissed, spewing out warm flames.

The young wizards, dressed in long robes, gathered together as if attending a tea party, chatting about the upcoming Halloween.

When Sheen returned, his wand was directing a giant pumpkin to float in, the pumpkin being as big as a carriage.

This is the biggest pumpkin Hagrid grew; he called it the Pumpkin King, and now he's giving it to Sheen as a Halloween present.

"Sheen, where did you find this...?"

Hermione was bewildered.

"I've never seen anything so big..."

Neville stammered.

Although the magic cast on food and plants has no practical use in combat, the difficulty of it is not reduced in the slightest.

From this perspective, Hagrid is actually quite talented in food magic.

“It was given to me by Hagrid. Oh, by the way… Hagrid asked me to tell you that he hasn’t seen you at Hagrid’s Hut in a long time.”

Sheehan placed the pumpkin on one side of the fireplace, and Justin began to plan with great interest what to do with it.

Harry and the others blushed.

Indeed, ever since they learned of the basilisk in the castle, their attention had been drawn to this enormous crisis, and they hadn't even gone to see Hagrid for a long time.

While they were still in a daze, Sheen walked to his seat and sat down.

After returning from the forbidden book section, the words Godrod wrote in "The Poisonous Magic" kept echoing in his mind.

"It is so difficult to create a positive belief, but so easy to create an evil belief..."

How should the beliefs of wizards be understood?

After a long period of contemplation, Sheen slowly wrote with his quill pen:

Emotions—love, protection, cruelty, distortion… these are the emotional aspects of a wizard. They correspond to the wizard's emotional power and can unleash powerful magic at certain times.

For example, when Fred was extremely angry, he turned Ron's toy into a spider, and when Harry was angry, he turned Aunt Maggie into a balloon.

Young wizards haven't yet experienced profound self-doubt; they believe, "I think, therefore I can." This belief, combined with imagination and curiosity, makes magic as natural as breathing.

Reason—wisdom, knowledge, insight…these are the rational aspects of magic. They correspond to the rational power of wizards and are the interpretations of magic by wizards over thousands of years. They increase the stability of magic and provide a practical path for learning magic.

Wizards began building confidence by learning "external rules" such as spells, gestures, and potion recipes. They believed, "Because I followed the steps correctly, the magic will work." The belief shifted from "Who am I?" to "What did I do?" Ritual magic—the ultimate product of this combination—became the final expression of wizarding magic.

After writing a long paragraph, Sheen seemed to gradually understand something.

No wonder Voldemort was so determined to kill Harry with his own hands.

He believed himself to be the most powerful dark wizard in the world, and therefore he could not accept the fact that he had been defeated by a boy.

In reality, he couldn't accept it, because it would directly lead to the collapse of his beliefs.

According to Godroth's theory, when a wizard's beliefs collapse, his magical power will also wither.

Just like Neville, who believed he was incapable of doing things well, the magical powers he displayed proved his belief.

After being encouraged and adjusting his mindset, he was able to succeed quickly again.

From this perspective, regardless of whether Godlow's theory is entirely accurate, it is of great significance.

So what about yourself?

Sheen watched Justin fiddling with the pumpkin silently, a wave of emotion gradually rising within him.

……

"I'll take up one minute of your time,"

After observing that Sheehan had "come back to life," Harry quickly spoke up.
Would you like to attend a death anniversary party?

The air in the cabin seemed to fall silent for a second, then tremble.

"A festival celebration, what does that mean?"

Justin was always the first to show his support.

"Tomorrow is the 500th anniversary of the death of Nick, who almost lost his head. It's Halloween, and he's going to have a party in a fairly spacious underground classroom."

And his friends will be coming from all over the country… who are said to be ghosts.”

Harry said.

"Why would anyone celebrate the anniversary of their death? It sounds really unlucky to me..."

Ron practiced Transfiguration, he said.

"A death anniversary party? I bet very few living people can say they've ever attended one of those—it must have been quite a spectacle!"

Hermione, however, was in high spirits.

Justin and Neville always glanced at Sheehan first. Sheehan seemed to be thinking, but he was actually thinking about the Halloween dinner.

Death anniversary parties are actually not very meaningful; the most uninteresting thing is the rotting food.

Sheehan had no desire to miss the Halloween dinner and share a moldy cake with flies and maggots—he had missed too many meals at the Great Hall because of Tom's affair.

No matter what, no one is going to pull him out of the hall this time.

"I hope you have fun."

Sheen said softly, a slow smile playing on his lips.

He suddenly remembered something: Harry and the others had arrived at the scene; what were they going to say...?

"Congratulations on being dead for five hundred years?"

Not far from the fireplace, Harry's eyes were visibly dim. He wanted to say something, but his lips moved but he couldn't utter a word.

If he had known that Sheen wasn't interested, he wouldn't have gone.

Spending Halloween with friends is so much better than spending it with ghosts.

(End of this chapter)