The Magical Principles of Natural Philosophy at Hogwarts

At the end of March, the last Quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Slytherin ended, marking the end of this semester's Quidditch season.

For the next nearly half a year, the stadium will be idle.

This also means that work on adding safety features can begin.

In November last year, Gilderoy Lockhart, professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at our school, submitted an application to express his concerns about the safety of Quidditch. As a very responsible teacher, he was willing to undertake the renovation of the stadium.

project.

Principal Dumbledore was not around at the time, so the deans of the four colleges discussed and approved his application.

Of course, they mainly do it with the mentality of watching a joke.

But when Lockhart presented the design, the four deans felt that this was not a joke.

In a fair evaluation, this design is feasible and realistic, and can reflect sufficient professionalism. A large magic array composed of nine hubs and hundreds of micro-nodes will be installed

Underneath the court surface, two main magical effects are permanently maintained:

Continuously deform the ground into an elastic material.

and a slow-fall force field that maintains a height of less than ten feet above the ground.

After such modifications, the behavioral logic of the Golden Snitch and Bludger must also be modified so that they will not actively enter the slow-fall force field, causing the game to be unfair.

With this arrangement, even if a student falls from a height of tens of meters, there is no risk of breaking his or her neck.

Although the four deans are not specialized in magic writing, they have good eyesight and can see the gold content in it.

Of course they were all surprised, thinking that Lockhart had befriended a master of runes. This guy himself had no ability, but if he had this level of connections, he could bring benefits to Hogwarts.

No one realizes that this "Magic Master" is hidden in this school.

But just having a plan is not enough. According to the markings on the design drawing, the entire project requires at least thousands of basic magic tablets. It will take a seasoned alchemist one or two years to complete this workload. Lockhart will

It’s unknown whether he will cut corners or even screw up directly.

But he really took out a sufficient number of magic tablets with valid magic words engraved on them.

Now most professors have changed their views on Lockhart.

Lockhart himself was a little proud to be able to make these senior mages look at him differently, but he was more afraid of the young man who could take out so many magic tablets in an understatement.

How terrifying is his background? In fact, these thousands of magic scripts are nothing to Erwin, because the most basic execution magic scripts are engraved on them, and they only need to exert a single effect.

The technical content is very low, and mass production can be automated using the auxiliary inscription tools in Lemay's cabin.

Otherwise, he would not have the confidence to let Lockhart take on this job.

Seeing that Lockhart had really helped, Professor McGonagall, who had always been upright, was a little embarrassed. She sincerely expressed her apology to Lockhart and suggested that the deans of them could help.

But Snape had a different opinion: "It's not a troublesome matter. Just let the half-giant from the hunting ground come forward. He must be worthy of the salary he has received for so many years."

Professor McGonagall was a little unhappy, but since everyone was the dean, she didn't say anything.

So those who appeared on the Quidditch pitch on Saturday were the tall Hagrid, Gilderoy Lockhart and Erwin.

"Erwin is very talented, I asked him to give him some training," Lockhart explained to Hagrid.

There is no doubt about him as the gamekeeper, and in his simple concept, every Hogwarts teacher should respect him.

"Morning, Erwin." He greeted with a chuckle.

The main job was to dig a hole and bury the array hub and each node. Hagrid picked up the big shovel and started working enthusiastically.

Erwin is responsible for debugging the array hubs and nodes to ensure that they can resonate with each other and function. After all, this is considered a public place, and the professors are paying attention, and it is not easy for him to show too much magical power.

After all, what he can do now cannot be explained by talent.

Gilderoy Lockhart pretended to be in command, trying to show that he was not ineffectual.

After getting the armor ring from Erwin, Lockhart's Defense Against the Dark Arts class finally had some substantive content, which emphasized the importance of defense in battle.

"No matter what environment you are in or what enemy you face, protecting yourself from injury is your top priority! As long as you have enough resistance to the curse, you can even display a noble spirit of sacrifice, stand in front of your partners, and fight for them.

Take the damage!"

This is a pretty good rhetoric, but the problem is that he will repeat it in every year's Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

"Now, use all your abilities to attack me!"

This link is only available in classes below the third grade, and this guy is still a bit self-aware.

A normal lower-grade Hogwarts student is considered an outstanding student if he can use the Disarming Charm and the Petrification Charm. Lockhart's magic level is not bad, and the Iron Armor Charm formed through the armor ring can still suppress the situation.

For students, casting spells on professors was much more interesting than reading those boring weird novels, so Lockhart was able to regain some of his reputation during this period.

There are only two people actually working on the court now, so the progress is not very fast. Although it is spring, under the sunshine, Lockhart is sweating all over his forehead, and it seems that he is the most tired one.

By the time the sun sets, all installation is complete.

"Is that all right?" Lockhart asked.

"Not yet," Erwin shook his head slightly, "Go to Professor McGonagall and the others and ask them for the last step."

"Huh?" Lockhart was a little confused.

"Just tell them directly and they will understand."

Although this entire set of magic text arrays seems complete, there is actually one most obvious problem, that is, there is no magic source.

In the world of magic, all power and energy can be controlled, but magic cannot be generated for no reason. To maintain the effect of this magic array on such a large venue, it must have a stable source of magic and use magic materials.

Or it would be unrealistic for a wizard to charge it.

Erwin did it on purpose. Anyone who didn't know anything about magic texts could directly discover this problem, but the professors at Hogwarts didn't express any reaction.

This shows that they don't think this is a problem.

Lockhart sent the message, and ten minutes later, not only Professor McGonagall, but also the other three deans arrived.

Snape frowned as soon as he saw Erwin, "Why is he here?"

"Erwin has been helping, Professor." Hagrid answered first.

"Go back to the castle." Snape looked at Erwin coldly and raised his aquiline nose.

"He is a student of my college. You have crossed the line, Severus." Professor McGonagall was a little unhappy.

"He has no right to stay here anymore." Snape was very stubborn.

"Why are you not qualified? There is nothing to keep secret about what happens next. He is a student at Hogwarts and a very good student. It's okay to just watch." said the short Professor Flitwick.

The short professor is now floating in the air to avoid having to look up at other professors due to his height.

"I just took a look, and there is nothing wrong with the entire magic text array." Flitwick blinked at Erwin, "I heard that you helped arrange it? That's okay, young man."

Snape snorted.

"Let's start quickly." Professor Sprout said: "The mandrakes in my greenhouse have reached a critical moment of maturity. Although there are students helping to take care of them, I am still a little worried."

Several professors stood at four corners next to the largest hub, raising their wands at the same time.

Gold, blue, yellow and green rays of light emitted from the tops of their wands, respectively outlining the patterns of lions, eagles, badgers and snakes, which are the symbols of the four colleges.

These four animals made of light gathered together, forming an arrangement similar to the Hogwarts school emblem, and then suddenly disappeared into the hub.

No, it didn't enter the hub, Erwin discovered immediately. It penetrated the hub and directly entered the ground.

The ground suddenly trembled, as if a vein was suddenly connected. The hub suddenly produced powerful magic fluctuations, and a large amount of magic spread from it to the surroundings, instantly activating all other hubs and nodes.

The rune array on the Quidditch pitch is officially put into use.

And the source of the magic that activates it...is Hogwarts.

This is the strength of this school itself.

Hogwarts itself can be regarded as a huge alchemical creation, containing immeasurable magic power. These magic powers circulate in the underground veins and support the consumption of the entire school.

Lockhart clicked his tongue in amazement. Of course, he was just watching the excitement. What he saw would become a source of conversation with others after he left Hogwarts.

"I'm just wondering why you go to such trouble to help this arrogant idiot." Riddle's voice sounded in Erwin's ears, "This is what you want, right?"

"It's just in passing." Erwin responded calmly.

"Sure enough, this castle contains unimaginable power, and my guess was right." Riddle said to himself, "Unfortunately, if I had known it at the beginning, I would have found a way to stay in Hogwarts no matter what.

It seems that mobilizing this force requires the joint authority of the four deans? Interesting."

Erwin is feeling this magic power, but unfortunately, apart from the fact that it seems to be endless, he has not discovered anything, and it is impossible to make any inferences.

But it is enough to be sure that Hogwarts itself has this power.

"In other words, I suddenly suspect that Salazar Slytherin was squeezed out probably not for the ridiculous reason of recruiting Muggle students." Riddle added.

"Yes, the castle itself has such a powerful energy, and the four founders are all outstanding wizards, two men and two women. The emotions and interest disputes that occurred are really fascinating." Erwin rarely refuted.

Del's conspiracy theory.

But it makes no sense to think about it now, because there is no relevant historical data preserved. Is it possible to write an imaginary historical novel about the love-hate entanglement between the four founders based solely on imagination?

"It's done." Professor Flitwick looked at the activated magic array with satisfaction.

Snape's attention was still on Erwin, "You'd better not tell other students what you just saw." He said sternly.

This once aroused Professor McGonagall's displeasure, but Snape didn't care.

"Thank you, professors." Hagrid, who had been watching quietly, said at this time, with no surprise on his face, indicating that he had seen similar scenes more than once in his career as a gamekeeper. "Now it's time for me to

Fill up all these holes."

The professors left, leaving Erwin, Hagrid, and Lockhart to continue working. Only the last step was left to fill in all the holes and re-pave the lawn.

Hagrid threw his shovel upwards violently. The half-giant was extremely strong, but the speed of the shovel dropped rapidly before it hit the ground. Finally, it touched the ground lightly, and the tip of the shovel did not even leave any trace on the lawn.

"Successful." Lockhart beamed, as if he was really the person in charge of this project.

When the time came the next day, Professor McGonagall knocked on the door of Lockhart's office with a bag of gold coins.

"This is the project money for you. The principal had already approved it when he was at school on Christmas. Part of it should have been advanced to you in advance, but something delayed it."

In fact, it was because he didn't trust Lockhart that he withheld the advance payment. Professor McGonagall was an upright person, so she looked quite unnatural when she said these words.

Lockhart has worked hard for so many years, but he still has basic emotional intelligence. Of course he will not accept it directly. "How can the school pay for this? This is my voluntary contribution." His expression was extremely noble.

"Hogwarts will not take advantage of you in vain, Professor Lockhart, not to mention that compared to a complete set of magic text arrays, the money is relatively small."

"No matter how much money you have, you don't have to give it to me. The school must have other places to spend money." Lockhart said while peeking at the money bag.

The bag is not big, and it really can't hold many gold coins.

"That's a special purse with an expanded capacity. It actually contains eight thousand galleons."

Eight thousand?

Lockhart was stunned. Although he still declined, he was no longer so firm, and finally accepted the offer.

But after Professor McGonagall left, he did not put the money bag into his safe.

He first approached Hagrid and offered to pay him five hundred galleons for his hard work, but he was sternly rejected.

"I don't need so much money, sir. Serving Hogwarts is what I should do."

After leaving Hagrid's hut, Lockhart didn't dare to keep any of the 8,000 galleons and one Knut, and handed them all over to Erwin. He now knew his position very well.

"Eight thousand Galleons?" Erwin was also surprised. Hogwarts' project funds are really quite large.

Perhaps undertaking infrastructure projects in the wizarding world is also a good way to make money?