The slacker professor at Hogwarts

Many wizards from Muggle families have a misconception.

They considered wizards to be synonymous with power.

But it's not.

In fairy tales, powerful characters are often played by the "hunter".

Wizards were initially afraid of the villagers' pitchforks, then they were afraid of firearms. In the modern era, even a powerful figure like Grindelwald felt despair and urgency about the atomic bomb invented by Muggles, thinking, "If we don't take action during their world war, wizards will never have another chance." Not to mention the rapid technological advancements of the modern world.

In fairy tales, wizards have only one role—mystery.

It's the Animagus's ability to shapeshift at will, the ease with which Apparition moves, the undetectability of the safe house, the Oblivion Charm, Horcruxes, divination, blood oaths, curses...

People say Dumbledore is "the greatest wizard of our time," but they also subtly mention that Voldemort is "the most powerful and dangerous dark wizard of all time," always trying to rank the two.

But it really depends on the perspective.

From the perspective of 'powerful', it is undoubtedly Dumbledore.

However, from a 'mysterious' perspective, Voldemort was actually more powerful.

Whether it was the First Wizarding World War, or knowing that Voldemort was hiding in the Albanian forest but being unable to find him, or later returning to spy on him and even plotting his resurrection in the Triwizard Tournament, Dumbledore and his Order of the Phoenix were often in a passive and reactive state.

In the end, Dumbledore even had to rely on Harry Potter, a weapon specifically designed for dealing with Voldemort, rather than crushing and tearing him apart with his own abilities.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that he is no longer at his peak; he is already 111 years old this year.

But this doesn't mean that a minor character like Alecto Caro can escape Dumbledore's pursuit.

In the original books, outside of Harry Potter's perspective, Dumbledore participated in countless searches for Voldemort, including discovering the seaside cave where Voldemort hid the Slytherin locket.

No one knows how he found out.

Now, Lockhart has the opportunity to witness some of Dumbledore's methods.

Old Deng had patiently guarded the fairy tale book, hoping Lockhart could save himself. Now that he had checked him repeatedly and confirmed that he was alright, he couldn't wait to continue the investigation.

Horcruxes, such magical and bizarre magic, were something Voldemort couldn't kill before they were destroyed, but that didn't mean Dumbledore had no way to deal with them.

If we could actually capture Tom's spirit and imprison him, whether by slowly torturing and interrogating him or by finding another way to search for the hidden Horcruxes, everything would become much easier.

The Elder Wand waved gently.

A cluster of silvery light gathered and coalesced before them into the image of a witch—Alecto Carlo.

The silver figure screamed in terror silently in the Carlo family's ancestral home, cast a spell to destroy the wall, rushed out, ran to a large tree in the garden outside, and suddenly vanished in an instant.

Dumbledore walked to the tree, gently shook his wand, grabbed Lockhart with one hand, and quickly used Apparition.

Another wave of insane dizziness washed over me.

When Lockhart regained his sight, he found himself deep in a dark alley.

The Elder Wand swung once more.

A humanoid figure, formed from converging silver specks, appeared, looking around somewhat flusteredly before walking into an old house with its windows boarded up with wood.

Dumbledore didn't rush inside. Instead, he raised his wand and murmured something, strode around the house, and soon chaotic air currents began to surge around, completely enveloping the area.

He turned to Lockhart, a smile on his face. "We don't know what dangers lie inside. Would you still be willing to come in with me?"

"certainly!"

Lockhart didn't hesitate for a moment, grinning, "Only by bravely facing death can we find hope for survival, right?"

Live to death.

Fairy tales are an eternal topic.

But sometimes it can become more concrete.

Dumbledore was about to say something when he suddenly became speechless, staring wide-eyed at Lockhart in disbelief.

Honestly, in his more than 100 years of life, what amazing things hadn't he seen?

Hey, I've never seen anything like this before.

Lockhart suddenly turned deathly pale, as if his life had been erased from the world. The colors of life gradually faded, and he became a completely translucent black and white figure.

ghost!

A wizard who, after death, lingers in this world and refuses to leave, thus becoming a ghost!

Lockhart winked mischievously at Old Dumbledore. "Fun, isn't it?"

"How amazing!" Dumbledore couldn't help but exclaim. "We can never see the boundaries of magic; it is always full of unknown territories waiting for us to explore."

Yes.

Then don't stop.

There are always unknown and wonderful landscapes waiting for us ahead.

Lockhart volunteered to go and investigate, and he couldn't resist showing off his amazing 'ghost form'.

Of course, it would be interesting if Voldemort, who was hiding somewhere, discovered that you were "already dead." Who knows, you might be able to fool him.

However, Lao Deng refused him without saying anything, and went straight in by pushing open the door of the building.

He was, after all, a proud and strong man at heart. He did not want to see Lockhart's helplessness when he was about to be cursed to death happen again, so naturally he would not let this young man beside him take risks for him again.

Dumbledore was clearly taking this much more seriously this time.

He unleashed countless spells in an instant, a deluge of detection magic and trap/curse-triggering spells raining down on the small building, while spells whose effects Lockhart couldn't fathom swirled around them.

Lockhart could even see a large patch of water on the ground, which seemed to reflect a world completely opposite to the real world.

War magic!

An ancient branch of wizarding magic without a clear official name, most of its magic has not been included in the curriculum of modern magic schools for various reasons.

Strictly speaking, this type of magic should all be classified under the "Duel" branch of the three major areas of "Defense Against the Dark Arts," and its most notable feature is that it was invented to address internal wars among wizards.

The most common spell is the disarming spell.

Lockhart knew very little about this type of magic. In his memory, the dozen or so powerful wizards rarely had access to information about this type of magic; the vast majority of knowledge dissemination channels were monopolized by pure-blood families and the Ministry of Magic.

Lockhart, not to be outdone, called on his friends to join the fray.

Boggart transformed into the "Hanging Corpse God," wielding a giant cross-shaped axe to guard him. The Winged Demon and the Little Golden Hair each occupied one of his shoulders, while the wronged fairy floated behind him, catalyzing the vitality of all the wood inside the small building, creating a mini forest.

But soon.

Lockhart and Dumbledore realized that they seemed to have overdone it.

As they cautiously searched up to the small attic on the third floor, in a pavilion that had originally been used to hang a bronze bell, Alector Carlo's body was found hanging there.

A rope hung down, tightly constricting her neck; the end of the rope twisted like a venomous snake, occasionally tearing at the witch's scalp.

Alecto's face was filled with terror. It was unclear what he saw before he died, but he was tearing at the rope around his neck with all his might, so much so that he remained in a desperate struggle even after death.

A large amount of blood stained her wizard's robe, dripping down the hem to the ground and pooling into a bloodstain that stretched out in all directions, eventually forming a sentence.

"Dumbledore, greetings from the bottom of my heart—Voldemort."